Goldweight Depicting a Pyramid

AsanteWW-1800-142555

1800·Copper alloy·1.6 × 1.5 × 2 cm (5/8 × 9/16 × 3/4 in.)

From the 15th through the 19th centuries, gold brought great prosperity and power through trade to the Akan and Akan-related people of southern Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. To regulate trade in gold, Akan merchants and rulers developed brass weights called abrammuo (singular mrammuo) that established standard units of measurement. The earliest and most common gold weights were cast in abstract, geometric forms. This weight is in the shape of a pyramid, symbolic of wealth, history, and longevity; with its stepped design it was also probably easy to grasp with the hand.

Catalogue

Year: 1800
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: 1.6 × 1.5 × 2 cm (5/8 × 9/16 × 3/4 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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