Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Eight and a half inches, most of it body. The head is an afterthought, and a commanding one.

This terracotta figure was made by the Koma people of northern Ghana between the 13th and 17th centuries. Many Koma pieces were recovered from burial mounds, and their imagery is thought to relate to the commemoration of the dead. Essentially a long cylinder topped by a compact head, it has a band at the brow, round staring eyes and a deep incised line. Below, a chin or beard juts out sharply. The reddish clay is lightly encrusted and abraded, as age will do. A metal mount holds it upright.

It stares. Stare back, if you like. You will lose.