Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Much about the Koma figures is still being studied. This one has not offered any clues.

It is terra cotta, from northern Ghana, 13th to 17th century. Found in mound sites, such pieces appear to have accompanied the dead. A broad, expressive head sits on a long, tapering body. A notched crown rims the open top, a large ringed eye bulges at the side of the face, and the nose and thick, layered lips project in profile. A small hole pierces the body below. Rough, earthy gray-brown clay. Seven inches on a metal mount.

Let it keep its secrets. They are good ones.