A bronze bust of a young Nigerian girl with her hair in a bun, wearing earrings and with her eyes half-closed.

Benedict (Ben) Enwonwu was a leading Igbo Nigerian painter and sculptor. He learned carving from his father and studied Fine Arts at Ibadan and Umuahia Government College from 1934–37. His solo exhibition of 1944 in Lagos resulted in a scholarship from Shell West Africa and the British Council to study fine art in England. Here he studied first at Goldsmiths' College, London, in 1944, and then at Ruskin College, Oxford, 1944-46. He moved to the Slade School of Art, London where he graduated with a first in Sculpture in 1947. He then undertook postgraduate studies in anthropology at the University of London, graduating in 1948.

In 1957 Queen Elizabeth II sat for Enwonwu for a large bronze sculpture which now stands at the entrance to the Parliament Buildings in Lagos. It was likely at this time that The Queen acquired the bust.  In addition, the Royal Collection holds another sculptural work by Enwonwu (RCIN 2175), and a number of his paintings.