Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Tilted, crowned with a notched band, with eyes like coffee beans. Nobody has ever mistaken a Koma head for anyone else’s.

Koma potters of northern Ghana shaped it sometime between the 13th and 17th centuries. Such figures were recovered from mounds in the region and are long associated with funerary practice, though their exact meaning remains open. Terra cotta, a tilted cylinder, with pierced nostrils and a pursed mouth. Below it, a crosshatched beard and rows of incised marks fill the chin. The clay is sandy and buff, worn and pitted.

Six inches, on a slender iron mount. The mystery is part of the furnishings.