Accession Number
1997/1.456

Title
Gold-weight

Artist(s)
Akan

Artist Nationality
Akan (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
20th century

Medium & Support
brass

Dimensions
9/16 in x 1 1/16 in (1.43 cm x 2.7 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. James and Vivian Curtis

Subject matter
Gold-weight in the shape of a seed pod, possibly a piece of a ground-nut (cf. British Museum object number Af1947,13.20) or possibly a seed pod of the castorbean plant (cf. Niangoran-Bouah, The Akan World of Gold Weights, Vol. 2, p. 59). As a gold-weight in the form of an object from nature, it's likely a direct cast. A proverb associated with the ground-nut is: 'If you want to grow something for me, plant ground-nuts, not corn'. This proverb indicates a desire for a permanent relationship, as ground-nuts remain in the soil once planted, but corn in easily uprooted and destroyed (cf. Garrard, Akan Weights and the Gold Trade, 1980, p. 208).

Physical Description
Gold-weight in the shape of a sphere covered in raised dots. 

Primary Object Classification
Metalwork

Primary Object Type
goldweight

Collection Area
African

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
goldweights
measuring
miniature (size attribute)
nut (plant component)
plant components
seeds (plant components)
weighing devices