Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

A tall collar, a broad chest and two big hands resting at the front.

This funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 13th – 17th C. It is terra cotta, mounted on a base. Koma figures are generally believed to have been placed in burial mounds as part of funerary practice, though their exact purpose remains debated. The head is tall and cylindrical, open at the top, with a projecting jaw and a ridged collar around the neck. The broad torso has small breasts or ornaments, and the arms bend forward to end in large, flattened hands. The clay is a warm orange. It is 4 inches wide, 3.5 deep and 10.5 high.

Hands forward, head high, centuries of practice.