The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Knife Handle Cover

Knife Handle Cover

1800s

Did You Know?

Only members of the goldsmiths' guild, who claimed descent from the first goldsmith Fusu Kwabi, could make gold ornaments for the royals and their entourage.

Description

Gold sheaths covered the cast iron blade of a king’s ceremonial knife (sikay), wrapping them with symbolism. In Akan states like the Asante Kingdom, gold embodies life force (kra) and is the sun’s earthly counterpart. Only goldsmiths’ guild members could make gold ornaments for the royals and their entourage, or for the royal treasury. Here, the goldsmith used a tool to push the raised floral, leaf, and geometric designs from the back of a soft sheet of gold (repoussé technique). Small dots outlining some motifs were punched into the metal. Similarly decorated gold sheets and solid ornaments capped a knife’s handle.
  • Sir Cecil Hamilton Armitage
    ?–1935
    (Charles Ratton Gallery, Paris, France via Pierre Matisse, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1935–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Wixom, William D. “African Art in the Cleveland Museum of Art.” African Arts 10, no. 3 (April 1977): 16-24. Repr. p. 21.
    Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 19, p.68 - 69
    Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), and James Johnson Sweeney. African Negro Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1935. Mentioned: p. 39, no. 162.
    Webb, Virginia-Lee, and Walker Evans. Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: p. 22; reproduced: p. 23, fig. 13, p. 68, no. 18.
    Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011. Mentioned: p. 112
    Brooklyn Museum. Masterpieces of African Art. Exhibition Dates: October 21, 1954-January 2, 1955. [Brooklyn]: Brooklyn Museum, 1954. Mentioned: p. 39
    Robbins, Warren M., and Nancy Ingram Nooter. African Art in American Collections, Survey 1989. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989. Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 202-203, fig. 514
    Walker, Roslyn A., Martha J. Ehrlich, Christraud M. Geary, M. D. McLeod, and Doran H. Ross. The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.Dallas : Dallas Museum of Art, 2018. Mentioned: p. 29; reproduced: p. 95, cat. 42
  • The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana. The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (organizer) (April 15-August 12, 2018).
    Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 1-September 3, 2000).
    NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art" 2/1/00 - 9/3/00, exh. cat. no. 18, p. 68.
    NY: The Brooklyn Museum. Masterpieces of African Art, October 18, 1954-January 2, 1955, cat. no. 32.
    NY, Museum of Modern Art, 1935: "African Negro Art," cat. no. 162, (also to CMA 9/27 - 10/27, 1935).
  • {{cite web|title=Knife Handle Cover|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1935.311