Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

Hands on the knees, a bulging belly, and a face set in serious concentration.

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, found in burial mounds, are generally connected with funerary custom and commemoration, though their meanings are not fully understood. The seated figure has a head with a looped headdress, wide lips and a jutting chin. A beaded necklace circles the neck, small breasts and a round navel mark the torso, and incised bands run across the waist. Both hands rest on the lap. It is 3 inches wide, 3 deep and 6.5 high.

Seated, settled and evidently thinking hard.