Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure

Bug-eyed and gaping, with a tongue-like slot hanging in a very open mouth.

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Koma people of northern Ghana are known for terra cotta figures, and scholars continue to discuss how the works were originally made and used. Thick-necked head crowned with a beaded band. Two big round eyes bulge over a grinning upper lip, and a wide mouth reveals a vertical slit and ridged lower lip. The gray-brown surface is gritty, with a rough, broken base. It is 3.5 inches wide and 5.75 high.

Delighted or alarmed, and the carver left that open.