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Description

Hollow ceramic of grey low-fired clay with rough micaceous inclusions. Crusted dark to light buff patina or slip. Rough neck bottom. Raised ovoid eyes, mouth, and nostrils are perforated. Slight chin. Head is severely convex and the forehead sweeps back. Back of the head is flattened and has three eyebrow-shaped ridges on each side. Ridges for eyebrows and a knob in the centre of the forehead. Knob on top of head has hole in the centre and four petal shapes around the base.

Narrative

Alan Sawyer note: purchased from Saja Tunkara of Accra in 1964.

Iconographic Meaning

Based on the small size of the head and its lack of ornamentation it may depict a servant or dependant of a deceased senior man or woman. Additionally, the lack of ear piercing may indicate the figure is male.

History Of Use

Commemorative terracotta funerary figures and heads accompanied the dead in Ghanaian Akan groups, such as the Asante, between the 17th and 20th centuries. For the Asante, death was not the end of life but the point at which the spirit of the deceased moved from the living world to the world of the dead and ancestors. As such, great importance was placed on funerals as social and ritual events. These figures, heads and other terracotta vessels were generally deposited in the “place of pots” (asensie), an area on the outskirts of town. Spirits of the dead were believed to linger in the “place of pots” forty days after death before they were reincorporated into human society as ancestral spirits. These terracotta heads and figures depicted important individuals, such as chiefs, queen mothers, family heads, and their servants. Funerary figures and heads operated as idealized representations of the deceased, rather than realistic. Funerary heads emphasized and depicted distinctive features particular to the deceased, such as hairstyle, facial hair, adornments, and scarification. The coloured slip on the figures was used to represent the complexion of the individual portrayed. Funerary heads and figures were traditionally produced by female artists. The artist would either have known the deceased, was summoned to their deathbed, or was said to have retrieved the image of the deceased by looking into the surface of palm oil or water. Commemorative funerary terracotta fell out of use in the early 20th century due to British colonial rule and the incorporation of Christianity and Islam into traditional religion. Modern Asante funerary rites make use of living and post-mortem photography of the deceased, grave tombs with images of the deceased, written biographies, and memorial church services. Today, terracotta figures are produced for trade.

Specific Techniques

Mica dust is incorporated into the clay before firing in order to achieve a degree of luminosity.