Tête commémorative

beige coloured terracotta with a light grey coating, regular facial features, fragmentary coiffure, drilled holes, min. dam., small missing parts, traces of abrasion, base.
Memorial heads of the Akan were not thought as individual portraits, they just showed singularities of the deceased, just like coiffure, skin scarification marks or ornaments, which made him recognizable for his relatives. The Akan have extended and elaborate funerary ceremonies for royals and commoners. Images and funerary ceramics were placed in sacred precincts of the forest or in the familys shrine room.