Existing comment:
Honor.
Great accomplishments merit monuments that outlast us.
This terracotta head commemorated a member of a royal family who lived in what is now south-central Ghana. Such sculptures did not adorn graves, but were kept in a grove known as the asensie, or "the place of the pots," located outside of town. Although regarded as portraits, the clay heads are a stylized resemblance of the departed, incorporating some specific trait(s) such as hairstyle, beard, or pierced ears. In this case, the raised ornamentation on the face depicts scarification, while the protruding knobs further back on the head suggest a traditional coiffure of the late 19th century. This was likely the work of an accomplished female Akan artist. |