Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure

Broad-shouldered and bearded, hands clasped low, with a mouth that seems mid-sentence.

This Koma terra cotta funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. Terra cotta is simply fired earthenware, and in West Africa it has been shaped into figures and vessels for well over a thousand years. Upright torso with a rounded head, a beard-like ridge and an open, rough mouth. Both hands meet over the lower belly, and the body ends in a stubby, broken base. The dark brown surface is crusty and uneven, with patches of orange showing. It is 2.1 inches wide, 1.75 deep and 4.75 high.

Looks ready to deliver remarks, if only someone would listen.