Colon statue

[1] The statues commonly depict European colonial officials such as civil servants, doctors, soldiers or technicians or Europeanised middle-class Africans.

As a genre, colon statues originated in West Africa, apparently among the Baoulé in Ivory Coast.

[4] It is debated whether the statues were originally seen as satirical caricatures of colonial officials or simply depictions of new subjects in local styles.

[1] Whether the original statues were intended to be purely ornamental or also served a ritual function is also debated by anthropologists.

Today, colon statues are widely produced as tourist souvenirs in West and Central Africa.