Goldweight with a Geometric Design

AsanteWW-1700-142567

1700·Copper alloy·2 × 2 × 0.7 cm (3/4 × 3/4 × 1/4 in.)

<p>This small, square gold weight consists of a pattern of four concentric semicircles on its face. It is probable that this weight was made sometime in the 18th or 19th centuries in light of its ornate “wax-thread” design, which was common during that period. Brass and copper weights were used for five centuries—between about 1400 and 1900—as a means to weigh gold mined by the Akan and traded first westward and then across the Sahara to North Africa, and later with the Portuguese and Dutch.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1700
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: 2 × 2 × 0.7 cm (3/4 × 3/4 × 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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