Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

Coiled eyebrows over coiled eyes, as though the whole face is thinking hard.

This based funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 13th to 17th century. It is terra cotta. Coils and pellets of clay pressed onto the surface are the basic vocabulary of Koma faces, and makers generally used them with great freedom. Here heavy rolled brows curve down over half-closed eyes, a short nose sits between them, and the mouth is a stack of thick ridges. A rounded chin gives way to a long, gently curving post of orange clay. It is 7.1 inches high and 2.5 wide.

Deep in thought, and staying there.