This sculpture, by one of the most sophisticated and consciously virtuosic of the Kongo masters, at first sight appears to be one of the usual mother-and-child groups, but the secondary sexual characters, usually well marked in the art, are absent and in fact the figure is clearly a man, clad, like the child, in a form of European frock coat. It probably represents a king or chief presenting his son or another child of his family to the tribe. It is a perfectly balanced but highly asymmetrical composition, emphasized by the irregularity of the base, and the chief bends over his right knee as though speaking--a trait found almost exclusively among the best Kongo carvers in the naturalistic style.