This elegant figure was brought to England by a forbear of the present owner, probably the Rev. Charles Litchfield, who is known to have been in South Africa in 1891 and is believed to have been living in Verulam, near Durban. It may be compared with three figures attributed to the Tsonga (or a related group) by Sandra Klopper (Phillips, 1995, p.225, nos.3.42a, b and c), which have similar minimalist facial features, short arms and the omission of the feet on simple bases. It is believed that a group of talented carvers from the Tsonga of Mosambique arrived on the eastern coast of Africa during the 19th century and may be responsible for many of the carvings previously attributed to the Zulu collected by Europeans at that time.