https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/116569/fullGoldweight in the form of a triangular implement with handle and scalloped edgesca. 1900–353 3/8 × 1 1/4 × 3/8 inches (8.6 × 3.2 × 1 cm)BrassGift of Robert M., Louis Dean F., and James W. D. Frasché, in memory of their father, Dean F. Frasché2005.062.0910Between roughly 1400 and 1900, Akan traders in Ghana and the Ivory Coast used collections of small brass weights to verify equal measures of gold dust. Akan craftsmen fashioned these weights using the lost wax method - a process which results in only one cast object, each a unique work. The artist forms the object out of softened wax, covers the form with slip and clay, and finally heats the covered form in order to melt the wax and replace it with molten brass. After the cast object cools, it is cleaned - leaving no mold to use again.
Goldweights fall into two broad categories: figurative and geometric. The Akan traditionally associated figurative weights with particular proverbs, an art form that pervades Akan visual and verbal culture. Among the Akan, objects as diverse as patterned kente cloths and staff finials reference proverbs. In a social arena, one may be praised for his ability to recall proverbs and introduce them in public debate. Despite this close verbal-visual relationship, figurative goldweights often allude to particular proverbs, but the weights are not used as a vehicle for verbal communication or significance; they merely weigh gold. Although the patterns of geometric weights may have names, they are not associated with proverbs.
This goldweight replicates the ceremonial iron swords with gilded handles used in the court of the king or Asantehene. Young sword bearers hold the full-sized swords by their blades. The goldweight may therefore reference the power of the Asantehene.
Suggested readings: Eric de Kolb, Ashanti Goldweights. NewYork: Gallery d'Hautbarr, 1968; and Christine Fox, Asante Brass Casting. Cambridge: African Studies Centre, Cambridge University, 1988.
Artifacts21748939581West Africa, Akan peoples, Ashanti group2005.062.091