Ancient & Archaeological Artifacts

Fired clay from the savanna of northern Ghana, buried for centuries. Ancient and archaeological artifacts here range from Koma terra cotta funerary figures to Pre-Columbian pottery from Mexico, Panama and Peru. The Koma figures, made roughly between the 13th and 17th centuries, appear with one head, two faces or three, and their exact purpose is still debated. From West Mexico come Colima, Chinesco and Mezcala figures; from Peru, Chancay cuchimulco figures, a Nazca stirrup vessel and an Inca canopa, a small votive alpaca.

There is a Chuquibamba offering tablet painted with a herd of camelids, a Coclé vessel from Panama, a Maya cylinder vessel, early Islamic blown glass and a strand of Precolumbian jade beads. Shipwreck pottery raised from the Java Sea sits beside Song dynasty stoneware from the Cizao kilns of Fujian. Set a Koma head on a bookshelf at eye level, or line a mantel with Peruvian clay. The oldest things in the house, and the least worried about it.