Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

A neat cap, round watchful eyes and a beard combed straight down.

This funerary figure, based, is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 13th to 17th century. It is terra cotta. A large share of Koma heads show beards, often rendered as rows of parallel grooves. A plain band forms a cap at the top. The eyes are raised rings with a dot at each center, the nose is long and straight, and the mouth is a short, closed line. Below the chin, a fringe of vertical grooves forms the beard before the body tapers to a point. It is 7.5 inches high and 2.5 wide.

Serious, but not unfriendly about it.