Cleveland Museum of Art

Gold Weight (abrammuo): Drum with Jaws of Defeated Enemies

Date

1800s

Medium

Brass

Culture

Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante goldsmith

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The wealth and power of the Asante kingdom was derived primarily from its massive gold resources. Since at least 1600, small weights in brass and bronze were used to weight gold dust and nuggets. The royal court had the most elaborate store of weights, while commoners often had about a dozen. Their imagery falls into two broad cateogries: geometric and representational. The latter often refers to proverbs, which used judiciously, marked a wise person. Representations of human jawbones surround the edge of this gold weight.

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