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
- 55211
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
This rectangular brass-cast gold weight is crisscrossed by the swastika form, with two extra horizontal lines added to each of the arms. The designs of gold weights are incredibly diverse—consisting of simple geometric designs in either high or low relief to representational sculptural forms based on items essential to West African life. Gold weights were used to measure gold dust, the local currency in the Akan-speaking regions of southern Ghana and the Ivory Coast between the 15th and the 20th centuries.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gottlieb
- Provenance
- Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gottlieb, Chicago, Ill., by 1979; given to the Art Institute, 1979.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300411641
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