Skip to main content

Gold-weight

Akan

Artwork Details

Gold-weight
1900-1985
Akan
brass
2 1/2 in x 5/8 in (6.3 cm x 1.6 cm)
Gift of Dr. James and Vivian Curtis
1997/1.452

Description

Subject Matter:

Figurative gold-weight in the shape of three twisted ropes attached to a coiled loop. This gold-weight may represent an indigenous charm, called asuman, which are small, man-made objects made of ingredients such as feathers, hair, shell, claws, teeth, bark scrapings, leaves, beads, ash and other substances. Their potency comes from the qualities of the ingredients such as ​hard, soft, cool, hot, shiny and dull that often represent cosmological forces. By binding or wrapping these ingredigents together, their altered properties allow opposing forces to take on new meanings (cf. Sheales, African Goldweights, 2014). 

Physical Description:

Gold-weight in the shape of twisted loop attached to three pointed rods with horizontal incisions. 

Usage Rights:

If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.