Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

A curling hooked nose takes center stage, with coiled ears listening on either side.

This based funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to between the 13th and 17th centuries. It is terra cotta. Koma makers often treated noses, ears and mouths as sculptural opportunities, exaggerating them well beyond natural proportion. A large coil forms the brow and nose in a single curling line, with a pierced opening at its center. Smaller coils at the sides suggest ears, and a ridged chin juts out below. The rest is a long, rough post of orange clay. It is 6.75 inches high and 2 wide.

Leading with the nose, and why not.