Koma Stone Armband, Ghana

A low black hoop with white lightning streaks and a notch on the rim.

This granite armband is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. Armbands and bracelets have been worn in many parts of West Africa as markers of status, age or belonging, and they are made from ivory, metal and stone. Seen at a tilt, a smooth dark band with a flared, rounded profile. Thin white veins cut through it in several directions, and a small chip interrupts the upper rim at back left. It is 4 inches wide, 4 deep and 0.75 high.

Sleek, lightly cracked, and happy to be photographed lying down.