Gold-weight
Akan
Description
Subject Matter:
Gold-weight in the form of a wooden back-rest with three feet. The back may have been removed, possibly to adjust the weight (cf. British Museum object number Af1954,23.2099). Back-rests are an indigenous form of seating, as compared to the European-style chairs represented in other gold-weights. Although its design is simple, back-rests could be easily transported. The decoration on back-rests could be much more elaborate, as some could be covered in leopard skin with brass finials or even gold (Phillips, African Goldweights, 2010, p. 120). It may also be an abstract rendering of a chicken's foot--other examples would sometimes be cast directly off a real-life model (cf. British Museum object number Af1906,0701.41). If a chicken's foot, a related proverb states "The hen's foot does not kill her chick", meaning that even if a parent is strict, he or she will not harm his or her own child (Garrard, Akan Weights and the Gold Trade, 1980, p. 206).
Physical Description:
Gold-weight in the shape of three forked branches with rounded tops, attached to a short stump.
Usage Rights:
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