Terra Cotta

Clay shaped by hand and fired in the open. Terra cotta figurative sculpture here centers on Koma funerary figures from northern Ghana and Bura figurative vessel tops from Niger, both several centuries old. Koma figures, dated roughly to the 13th through 17th centuries, were recovered from mounds and are believed to relate to burial or memorial practice. The Bura of the Niger River valley, active around the 11th to 15th centuries, made heads and figures to crown funerary vessels.

Mambila figurative vessels from Cameroon, a seated Mangbetu female figure and vessel from the Congo, and an Ibibio shrine guardian from Nigeria carry the medium into the 20th century, with a 19th century Nigerian funerary marker and Makonde dolls from Tanzania nearby. Porcelain lohan figures from Jingdezhen add a Chinese voice in a finer clay. Group Koma heads on a low shelf with space between them, under warm light. Fired once, and still holding the shape.