Goldweight with a Geometric Pattern
<p>The relatively complex design of this gold weight consists of two comb-like elements attached to a pair spirals by a central stem. It is almost a perfect square in format. These weights were used to measure gold dust, the local currency in the Akan-speaking regions of southern Ghana and the Côte d’Ivoire between the 15th and the 20th centuries. Made of a copper alloy, the gold weights enabled merchants to carry out trade in towns of the West African Sahel and, prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the late 15th century, North Africa.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1700
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Dimensions
- Base: 2 × 3.2 × 3.9 cm (3/4 × 1 1/4 × 1 1/2 in.); Lid: 0.7 × 3.2 × 3.9 cm (1/4 × 1 1/4 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Asante
Artist
Asante is both an Ashanti surname and a masculine Ashanti given name. Notable people with the Ashanti name include:
Full artist profile →More
More by Asante
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Kente Wrapper (Nsaduaso)
1925 · Silk, cotton, and rayon, 27 narrow woven strips of plain weave with bands of weft-faced, warp-ribbed plain weave and bands of plain weave with supplementary brocading wefts; joined
Pectoral Disk (Akrafokonmu or Awisiado)
1925 · Gold and red ochre
Adinkra Wrapper
1904 · 6 panels joined of factory-produced cotton, plain weave self-patterned by warp and weft floats; embroidered with silk floss and viscose rayon threads in chain stitches
Kente Wrapper
1901 · Rayon, weft-faced plain weave with supplementary and brocading weft patterning
Kente Wrapper
1901 · Silk, 26 narrow woven strips of warp-stripe plain weave with supplementary patterning wefts; joined; warp fringe
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Asante
- Year
- 1700
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Dimensions
- Base: 2 × 3.2 × 3.9 cm (3/4 × 1 1/4 × 1 1/2 in.); Lid: 0.7 × 3.2 × 3.9 cm (1/4 × 1 1/4 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1700-142536
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified