The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Gold Weight (abrammuo): Geometric

Gold Weight (abrammuo): Geometric

1800s
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Geometric weights like this are the earliest form of these small, functional objects.

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.
  • ?–1969
    Georges Rodrigues, New York, NY, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1969–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 34, no. 37
  • The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
    MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 37, p. 117, color repr. p. 34.
  • {{cite web|title=Gold Weight (abrammuo): Geometric|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.265