Memorial head
Ghana, Akan
not available anymore
Size
H: 17 cm
H: 6.7 inch
Description
ceramic/terracotta, base
The style of this head is close to the William Brill head pictured in Cole and Ross, The Arts of Ghana, 1977, ill. 282 .
Memorial heads such as this example have at least a 400-year heritage among the Akan where they represent the retainers or a generalized portrait of an important elder, either male or female. They were not positioned on the grave, but placed either in a sacred grove “asenie” close to the cemetery or in a shrine or stool room where libations and sacrifices were occasionally offered and rituals were performed.
Comparing literature
Cole, Herbert M. & Doran H. Ross, The Arts of Ghana, Los Angeles 1977, ill. 282Publications
AHDRC: 0153683