Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Time has softened this face almost to a whisper.

It is a small Koma terra cotta funerary figure from Ghana, 13th to 17th century, and figures of this type were found in mounds in northern Ghana and are generally linked to rites for the dead. This one stands five and a half inches tall and is very simple in form. The head has an open, hollow top and flaring, wing-like ears. The body tapers to a narrow point.

The pale buff clay is dry and granular.

Spare, almost abstract. Quiet, in the way that a held breath is quiet.