This figure, carved with great finesse and of high quality, was described as 'a soldier' at the time of its acquisition, but was subsequently called 'Poltrone' in Museum records. Poltrone is a character from the Italian commedia dell'arte, a clumsy soldier. He is often paired with Scaramuccio (Scaramouche). Such small-scale figures were produced not only in ivory but also in porcelain at the Meissen factory near Dresden, and at other porcelain factories in Germany. The probable artist, Johann Christoph Ludwig (von) Lücke, who produced numerous ivory sculptures in Germany and elsewhere, worked as a modeller for the Meissen porcelain manufactory in his youth, and this ivory is clearly related to contemporary porcelain figures. It is related to a terracotta relief of Poltrone by Lucke, signed and dated 729, in the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg.