Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure

Koma figures are known from excavated mound sites in northern Ghana, and are thought to have been associated with burial and the honoring of the dead. This head came out of that world, made sometime between the 13th and 17th centuries.

It rises from a short columnar neck to a striking face. The eyes are oval and lidded. The muzzle juts, and heavy everted lips frame a small open mouth. A beard is rendered in neat vertical grooves, and a crest of incised, braided ornament crowns the head. The pale buff clay shows small chips and the softened surface of long burial. Five and a half inches high.

Distinguished. A little weathered. He has earned it.