Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure

Charcoal-dark and one-eyed in effect, with a single giant disc dominating the face.

This Koma terra cotta funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. Hand-modeled from fired clay, Koma figures often show stylized faces, bodies and ornaments, and their surfaces record the pinching, coiling and incising used by the potters. Smoky grey-black cone with a flaring, flat top. A large raised disc eye with a dimpled center sits at one side, balanced by a smaller eye and ear-like lump opposite. A blunt nose runs down the long, smooth lower face. It is 3 inches high and 1.5 in diameter.

Subtle it is not, and the maker clearly knew.