Art Institute of Chicago

Goldweight with a Geometric Design

Asante or related Akan-speaking peoples

Date

18th/19th century

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

Ghana

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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.

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