Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure

Eyes like spectacles, a thick lower lip and a chin that keeps on going.

This funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 13th to 17th century. It is terra cotta. Koma figures come from burial mounds, and scholars generally link them to funerary practice, though their role remains uncertain. The cylindrical head is modeled with large ringed eyes and a long, straight nose. A rolled mouth sits above a broad tab that juts from the chin, and stub ears flank the sides. The top is broken off in a rough crown, and the clay is a warm orange. It rises on a rod above a square black base.

Expressive, and willing to wait several centuries to be noticed.