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This is a bronze Akan (Ashanti) gold weight sculpted as a standing female holding a pole mashing maize, late 19th century. Gold weights were used in the measuring of gold and gold dust, which was mined and panned in great quantities along the West Coast of Africa, hence the name Gold Coast. Gold was used in the Ashanti kingdom for trade, making personal adornments, and as an internal currency. The weights were made from bronze or brass, which was obtained through trade with Europe from the late 15th century onwards. Weights were cast using the lost-wax method which is still the best way of preserving fine modeling and detail. Provenance: from an old Bristol collection. The Ashanti Gold Weight measures 62mm tall.
Natural gold resources in the dense forests of southern Ghana brought wealth and influence to the Ashanti people. Ashanti wealth was increased by transporting gold to North Africa via trade routes across the Sahara. In the 15th and 16th centuries this gold attracted other traders, from the great Songhay empire (in today's Republic of Mali), from the Hausa cities of northern Nigeria and from Europe. European interest in the region, initially in gold and then in enslaved Africans, brought about great changes, not least the creation of the British Gold Coast Colony in 1874. British intervention also created public interest in the Ashanti and enabled British museums to acquire examples of Ashanti art. Ashanti gold weights under the military leadership of the Asantehene (Ashanti or Asante leader) Osei Tutu, Ashanti State grew out of a group of smaller states to become a centralised hierarchical kingdom. In 1701 its increased power meant it was able to displace the then dominant state, Denkyira, which, through conquest, had come to control the major trade routes to the coast as well as some of the richest gold mines.
Price: £45.00
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