This charming bronze head of a faun, evocative of the sprightly, idyllic aspect of Antique mythology, is closely similar in style and facture to a series of eight bronze busts by Soldani of Roman emperors and empresses, and his variation on Bernini's Anima Beata, which he purveyed to the Prince of Liechtenstein in 1695. Another example of the present bust is in the Ackland Art Museum (op. cit.), labelled as Soldani.
The thin, but virtually flawless, casting, the high polish of the skin, and the matt-punching of details such as the hair and horns, combined with the golden lacquer patina are characteristic of Soldani, and his followers. The combination of the bust with a base decorated with the typically Florentine technique of pietre dure corroborates the city of origin.