Koma Female Funerary Figure

Dark, patterned and solemn, with a netted headdress and a ridged belly.

This Koma terra cotta female funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. Koma figures are generally dated between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, and little is known for certain about the people who made them, which is why study of them continues. Seated body in deep grey, with a crosshatched cap, ringed eyes and a squared mouth. A necklace crosses the chest, and bands of fine incised marks cover the belly above scored hands resting on the knees. It is 3.25 inches wide, 2.5 deep and 6 high.

Looks severe, though the headgear is clearly fun.