Koma Ceramic Funerary Figure, Based

A calm face, a slight smile and a crosshatched collar like a knitted scarf.

This based funerary figure is Koma, from Northern Ghana, West Africa, and dates to between the 13th and 17th centuries. It is terra cotta. Incised patterns on Koma figures, from crosshatching to rows of dots, are often read as references to scarification, jewelry or textiles. The head is a simple open cylinder of orange clay, with large almond eyes, a straight nose and a small closed smile. A raised ridge rings the neck, and below it a broad band is incised with a grid of crosshatching. It is 7.5 inches high, 3.5 deep and 2.5 wide.

Dressed for cool weather, apparently.