By the early twentieth century, Malvina Cornell Hoffman had emerged as a leading American sculptor. From her teacher, the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, she had learned the importance of naturalism and boldness of sculptural form in the creation of character studies. In 1930 Chicago’s Field Museum commissioned Hoffman to sculpt figures depicting ethnic groups of the world. She cast a few of the 104 life-size figures, including Shilluk Warrior, Sudan, in a smaller scale. The figure represents a tribe that lived on the west banks of the Nile. The males, who are unusually tall, mark their rite of passage into manhood by scarring their forehead and upper torso in a distinctive pattern, as Hoffman shows in this figure. Portrayed in a traditional African resting pose, the warrior commands a powerful expressive presence and dignity.