Goldweight with a Geometric Design

AsanteWW-1700-142563

1700·Copper alloy·1.3 × 1.3 × 0.7 cm (1/2 × 1/2 × 1/4 in.)

<p>Akan gold weights depict both figural and abstract forms. They were cast by the Akan and Akan-related people of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and used for weighing gold dust from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The earliest forms—like this example—were based on abstract motifs, reflecting the Islamic influence on the gold trade prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in the 1470s.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1700
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: 1.3 × 1.3 × 0.7 cm (1/2 × 1/2 × 1/4 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Asante

Artist

Asante

Asante is both an Ashanti surname and a masculine Ashanti given name. Notable people with the Ashanti name include:

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