Art Institute of Chicago
Goldweight with a Geometric Design
Asante or related Akan-speaking peoplesLinkedCulture matchlcp-0fe307805012
- Date
- 18th/19th century
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Culture
- Ghana
- Department
- Arts of Africa
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 54036
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
Brass-cast gold weights were used to measure gold dust, the local currency in the Akan-speaking regions of southern Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire between the 15th and 20th centuries. Made of a copper alloy, the gold weights enabled merchants to trade with towns in the Sahel region and North Africa and later with the Portuguese and the Dutch. The designs of gold weights are incredibly diverse, from simple geometries to designs referencing local proverbs. When gold weights fell out of use in the 20th century—gold was replaced by bank notes and coinage—artisans continued to make them for the tourist market.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of the Britt Family Collection
- Provenance
- George Stoecklin (died 1997), Golfe-Juan, France, by 1978 [see correspondence with Jean Britt in curatorial file]; sold to Raymond E. Britt, Jr. (died 2004), Britt Family Collection, Chicago, Ill., 1978; given to the Art Institute, 1978.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300411641
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