Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

A long body crowded with bumps, and a curled little head peering out at one end.

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 terra cottas are known from burial mounds in northern Ghana and are usually associated with funerary practice, though their meanings remain open to debate. This one lies horizontally, its long back covered in a dense row of rounded lumps. At one end, a coiled, spiral-like head with a round eye rises slightly. The underside is rough and irregular. The clay is a bright orange-red with darker patches. It is 5.7 inches wide, 3 deep and 5.4 high.

Long, low and lumpy, in the most dignified way.