Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure

Here, a weathered little figure with a wide mouth and a bead necklace of attitude.

This funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa. It is terra cotta. Fired clay figures from the Koma region are generally modeled by hand with simple, upright forms, and they are often associated with ancestor and burial customs. Overall, a small standing figure of rough, earthy brown, tapering to an uneven base. The head has heavy-lidded eyes, a broad nose and a protruding open mouth. A ridged collar of small knobs circles the neck. The surface is pitted and eroded. It is 1 inches wide, 1 deep and 4.8 high.

Worn down by time, still entirely willing to speak up.