Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

Legs straight out, hands on knees, and a necklace of tiny teeth or beads worn with some pride.

This funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 13th – 17th century. It is terra cotta. Koma terra cottas, recovered from mounds in northern Ghana, are generally associated with burial. This seated figure has an open cylindrical head with almond eyes and a small pointed mouth. A collar of short applied pendants circles the neck,. The arms come down to splayed fingers resting on the knees, one wrist ringed with bangles, and the legs extend forward from a flared seat. It is 4 inches wide, 5 deep and 8.25 high.

Sitting comfortably for a few hundred years seems to suit it.