Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure

Tapering tube of a face, flat-topped and wide-eyed, with a tiny mouth slashed in ridges.

This Koma terra cotta funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. The Koma people of northern Ghana are known for terra cotta figures, and scholars continue to discuss how the works were originally made and used. Tall and wedge-shaped, widening toward a flat rim at the top. Two large raised rings form the eyes above a narrow nose and a small, banded mouth. The brick-brown surface is matte and gritty, and the base is broken and ragged. It is 2 inches wide, 2.25 deep and 3.3 high.

A face built from a few firm decisions and no second thoughts.