Fancy Coffins Popular Art for Eternity : Africa: In Ghana, caskets that are shaped like Mercedes, lions, hens and even huge red peppers appeal to the wealthy as well as the eccentric. Foreigners, however, appreciate the caskets as art.

Paa Joe flashes a gap-toothed smile while his visitor considers the man-size fish and the monstrous speckled hen in his shop.

For three years he has been waiting to be rid of the creatures, to see them lowered into a hole six feet under and covered with packed dirt for eternity.

Once they are gone, he will still have to contend with the huge red pepper, the antelope, the lobsters, the onions and countless other creatures that are a way of life for Paa Joe--and, certainly, a way of death for thousands of people in Ghana.

Paa Joe, the affectionate nickname of Joseph Tetteh Ashong, is one of a handful of woodcarvers who make their living building customized, fantasy caskets. The creations are unique to Ghana and have begun to attract customers from other nations.

Hand-painted in brilliant colors, the designs reflect the personalities of the deceased, what they did for a living, or what beliefs they held dear.

A man who owned a shoe shop was buried in a pair of basketball shoes.

A spring onion, which came complete with a wee replica of the dead woman kneeling and tending a tiny onion patch, was the resting place of a successful onion farmer.

Hens like the one in Paa Joe’s shop are often ordered by children to represent a mother who has looked after her brood well.

“The fish and the mother hen have been on hold for three years,” said Paa Joe. “As soon as the children tell me to, I’ll paint them afresh and get them ready for the funeral.”

The elderly people they were ordered for recovered from seemingly fatal illnesses.

Paa Joe’s shop is called 6 Ft Enterprise after the average depth of graves.

Tourists and other curiosity-seekers peek into the workroom and soon will be able to browse in a showroom upstairs.

Most Ghanaians still are buried in traditional caskets, which Paa Joe also makes.

The custom coffins are popular with the wealthy, foreigners who buy them as art, and the just plain eccentric.

The business was born in 1962 when Kane Kwei, a well known woodcarver, was asked as a favor to create a canoe-shaped coffin for his uncle.

The casket was such a hit that Kwei’s rich father-in-law demanded to be buried in a coffin shaped like a Mercedes-Benz.

The idea caught on.

Paa Joe, who worked for Kwei in the 1960s, opened his own shop and now competes with the late Kwei’s sons, Ben and Samuel, who carve caskets a few miles away in Nungua.

Several apprentices work in the shops, ensuring the trade’s longevity.

Most of the fantasy pieces cost about $450--three times the price of a regular coffin and more than an average Ghanaian’s yearly salary.

A Mercedes coffin, which comes complete with lace curtains on the windows and customized license plates, goes for as much as $1,500.

The prices have not even come close to deterring Ghanaians, whose tribal customs and strong family ties make their funerals elaborate affairs.

Paa Joe says he sells a few dozen a year, including about six Mercedes models.

Huge lions, embellished with red suede covering the body and thatched manes, have been carved for tribal chiefs.

The carvers’ catalogues picture giant fruits, vegetables, reptiles, cars, lobsters, even airplanes.

Most take about two to four weeks to finish, but rush orders can be done in a couple of days.

Sometimes the creations are too magnificent.

For example, grave-robbers have dug up the coffins and resold them elsewhere.

That has prompted some people to intentionally mar a custom coffin just before burial to deter thieves.

Ironically, when Kwei died in 1992, he was buried in a regular coffin because his strong Christian faith often considers the bizarre caskets as clan symbols with occult overtones.

Most Christians, if they opt for a special coffin, choose one in the shape of a Bible or a church, Paa Joe said.

There’s another problem with the fancy coffins, he added.

Few can fit into a hearse, meaning special trucks or teams of strong men are required to carry them to the cemetery.