Memorial head
Ghana, Akan, Hemang-Twifo style
not available anymore
Provenance
Roy Stacy, Washington D.C., USASize
H: 18,5 cm
H: 7.3 inch
Description
fired red clay, beige coating, pigment remains, triangular face with abundant forehead tattoos, coiffure partly covered by clay-like mass/partly remodelled(?), acrylic 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.