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Gold Weight (abrammuo): figure

1950–60
Copper alloy
Overall: 6.8 cm (2 11/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Hornung 1962.243
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Did You Know?

By the time this was cast in the 1950s or 1960s, gold dust was no longer a currency. "Weights" like this were instead made as small souvenirs or artworks.

Description

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. However, this weight was produced too late to have functioned in weighing currency.
Gold Weight (abrammuo): figure

Gold Weight (abrammuo): figure

1950–60

Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante goldsmith

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