Gold weight Asante, Ghana Ohne Sockel / without... Lot 32

Gold weight Asante, Ghana Ohne Sockel / without base Yellow cast iron. W 5 cm. L 9 cm. Provenance: - according to oral information of the owners, Galerie Maria Wyss, Basel. - Peter E. His (1922-2005), Basel. The weights of the Akan people on the former Gold Coast were in use from about 1400 to 1900. Their designation is not for the material of manufacture, but for their function; the weighing of gold dust. Until the end of the 19th century, gold dust was actively traded by the Asante and related peoples in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Special spoons ("saawa"), usually made of sheet brass, were used to remove the gold dust from a container ("adaka", "kuduo", etc.) and weigh it on a beam balance ("nsania") with the help of counterweights. The Akan gold weights, made by the lost wax process, had geometric shapes. Initially geometric in design, figurative weights also appeared in the course of the 16th century at the latest. These "newer" weights were still intended for practical use, and moreover, as prestige weights, they usually depicted Akan proverbs. Further reading: Menzel, Brigitte (1968). Gold weights from Ghana. Berlin: Museum für Völkerkunde. CHF 100 / 200 EUR 91 / 182