Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure

Big hat, bigger nose, and a mouth that reads as a single flat line.

This Koma terra cotta funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. Funerary figures in many African traditions are generally linked with remembrance of the dead and with family ties to ancestors, though meanings differ widely from one community to the next. Blocky head crowned with a tall, cross-hatched cap that spreads at the base. Heavy cheeks flank a short nose with two tiny nostril dots, and a long, flat slot makes up the mouth. The surface is a rough, dusty brown. It is 3.5 inches wide, 3 deep and 5.5 high.

A hat of real ambition on a face of real restraint.