Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Three-quarter view, and the profile takes over: a heavy-lidded almond eye, a hooked nose with open nostrils, a pointed beard thrusting forward.

This terracotta figure comes from the Koma people of northern Ghana and dates to between the 13th and 17th centuries. Pieces like it have been excavated from the mounds of the Koma region and are generally associated with burial and ancestral practice. A flat, disc-like headdress crowns the head, perforated with small holes. The rough, grainy clay ranges from tan to rust, eroded by its long time in the ground. Seven inches tall on its custom mount.

Give it a quarter turn. It rewards the effort.