Bust of an African Woman

In 1859 Henry Weekes exhibited this bust at the British Royal Academy in London as a portrait of an anonymous African woman ("An African Head"). Her hair neatly gathered at her neck in a type of hairnet called a snood, the sitter wears hoop earrings and an ornate necklace. Weekes renders her hair and expression in a display of sculptural virtuosity that extends to the palm-leaf pedestal from which the bust appears to grow. This inventive composition unites naturalistic portraiture and whimsical design.