Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Sandy, orange and gray, gently weathered, like the ground it kept company with.

This Koma terra cotta funerary figure from Ghana dates to the 13th to 17th centuries. Figures like it were found in burial mounds in northern Ghana and are widely understood to belong to funerary practice. The head is set on a long, tapering cone. A band of incised marks runs across the forehead, and heavy-lidded eyes sit above a small nose and mouth.

Gray residue clings to the face, and the rest of the clay is granular. Seven inches tall.

Patience, rendered in clay.