Funeral Head

These terracotta heads have a common point with the bronze portraits of Ife. They materialize through realistic, harmonious and regular human traits the existence of nature. The serenity that permeates them and the symmetrical regularity of these features reflects the necessary quietness of the real models. The king must resemble his portrait or, rather, the portrait must reflect the image of the king, who will help fight against negative forces. Children belonging to royalty Akan They learn from very young people to master their gestures and their faces and to repress their impulses and emotions in order to forge their character and acquire this degree of impassiveness.

These heads are held during the second funerals of the king or important dignitaries and, once the ceremony is finished, they are placed, on small mounds, on the altar dedicated to the ancestors, on the margins of the cemetery itself, in some sacred areas called mmaso. The rings on the necks indicate the virtues to accompany the ruler. The oldest specimens of these heads seem to date back to the beginning of the century. XVIII.

This head, like many others, has small bows regularly distributed.