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

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. This rectangular gold weight features two “comb” motifs facing opposite directions, separated by a generous gap with deeply incised lines running through the middle of the weight. The use of the “comb” design suggests that this piece was made sometime between 1700 and 1900.

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