Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

Wide eyes, an open mouth and a torso crowded with incised ornament.

This funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 13th – 17th C. It is terra cotta, mounted on a base. Koma figures were found in burial mounds in northern Ghana, and while their purpose is still debated, they are generally linked to funerary practice and the commemoration of the dead. The elongated head has round eyes, a prominent nose and a small open mouth above a thick collar. The body is covered in rows of raised and incised ridges, with traces of reddish clay showing through the weathered surface. It is 3 inches wide, 2.5 deep and 9.25 high.

Centuries underground, and still in a talkative mood.