Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

A headband of tiny squares, pressed into clay centuries ago.

Koma makers in Ghana formed this terra cotta figure between the 13th and 17th centuries, a column-shaped head with a broken open top. Koma figures are associated with burial mounds in northern Ghana, and their exact meaning is still uncertain. Below that band of small incised squares, heavy-lidded eyes sit either side of a long nose, with thick lips above a rounded chin.

The brown clay carries darker staining in places. Seven inches tall.

Uncertainty suits it.