Modigliani made sculpture for a brief period, creating approximately twenty-five known works carved directly in stone. Italian masons whom the artist befriended in Paris supplied the materials and taught him to carve. In these works, he sought a new kind of art, blending non-Western traditions. The elongated head and round mouth here recall African masks, and the hair and proper right ear include references to Asian art; other sculptures by Modigliani reveal the influence of ancient Egyptian art.

This sculpture is made from a reused building block (traces of iron in the hole at upper right suggest that it could have contained a railing or clamp).