Koma Janiform Funerary Figure, Based

Two faces, one head. One looks forward. The other, by definition, looks back.

This janiform terracotta is attributed to the Koma people of northern Ghana, between the 13th and 17th centuries. Koma terracottas are known from ancient mound sites, where they are generally thought to have served in funerary and ancestral observance. The head rises into a tall, tapering cone, a form often seen in Koma work. Below, coiled brows curl around heavy eyes. The nose is pierced with deep nostrils, the mouth a wide, thick-lipped slot, a small ear modeled at one side. The coarse, earthy clay is pitted and worn smooth in places from long burial. It sits on a black base.

Walk around it. Nothing is behind it.