Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

Bulging ring eyes, flared nostrils, and a mouth set in a long, deliberate grimace.

This funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, dates to the 13th – 17th century, and is terra cotta, presented on a base. Terra cotta heads and figures from the Koma-Bulsa area have been found in burial mounds and are generally thought to relate to commemoration of the dead, though their exact role remains debated. The head is a tapering column with round, rimmed eyes and a broad nose pierced by two nostrils. A thick upper lip overhangs a striated beard or chin. The clay is a rough orange-red with darker patches near the crown. It is 3 inches wide, 3 deep and 8 high.

Several centuries underground and the expression has not budged.