Bess Bigham Hubbard found inspiration for her works in the Native American populations of the Southwest, of which this model is a notable example. Hubbard adopted the carving method of her instructor, the famed modernist sculptor William Zorach. Zorach advocated a direct, reductive chiseling method of working, rather than casting a sculpture in metal from a mold.

This small portrait of a fashionable Creole gentleman is attributed to Julien Hudson, one of the earliest documented free artists of color working in New Orleans. In the 19th century, a sizable prosperous community of free people of color flourished in the city, and many of them worked as artists and craftspeople or ran successful businesses.