Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure

Grey, round and grinning, with a mouth open as if mid-joke.

This Koma terra cotta funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. Hand-modeled from fired clay, Koma figures often show stylized faces, bodies and ornaments, and their surfaces record the pinching, coiling and incising used by the potters. Full and round, a head in a dark slate-grey tone with a gritty, matte skin. The large oval eyes are lidded and smooth, the nose is blunt, and the open mouth shows a rough interior. Small knobs of hair or ornament dot the crown. It is 3.5 inches wide, 3.5 deep and 4 high.

Few antiquities look this pleased to be photographed.