Koma Terra Cotta Funerary Figure, Based

Ground that keeps things, keeps them well, and gives them back a few centuries later.

The Koma people of northern Ghana made this terra cotta funerary head between the 13th and 17th centuries, in a tradition known through objects found in old burial mounds. Koma faces are bold and exaggerated, and this one is no exception.

A beaded band circles the top of the head. Two round eyes sit wide apart. A stack of thick, projecting lips fills the lower face, the mouth incised with rows of small teeth. About seven and three-quarter inches tall with its stand, the surface is rough and reddish-tan, eroded and encrusted from long burial.

Face it directly. It is used to staring.