Accession Number
1997/1.512

Title
Gold-weight

Artist(s)
Akan

Artist Nationality
Akan (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
20th century

Medium & Support
brass

Dimensions
2 1/8 in x 2 3/8 in x 5/8 in (5.4 cm x 6.1 cm x 1.6 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. James and Vivian Curtis

Subject matter
Figurative gold-weight in the form of two crocodiles sharing one stomach. One of the few gold-weights that can be confidently connected to a proverb, this figure is called dinje blafou in the Baule language by Akan-speaking peoples in Côte d'Ivoire and funtumfrafu denkyemfrafu in the Twi language by Akan-speaking peoples in Ghana (cf. Niangoran-Bouah, The Akan World of Gold Weights, 1984, Vol. III, p. 185; Garrard, Akan Weights and the Gold Trade, 1980, p. 196). The related proverb states: 'Bellies mixed up, crocodiles mixed up, yet when they get their food they fight over it saying that each must feel the food passing down his own throat', meaning that relatives should not fight because what one person contributes benefits everyone in the family, and they all depend on each other for their well-being (cf. Garrard, Akan Weights and the Gold Trade, 1980, p. 207). 

Physical Description
Gold-weight in the shape of a square base with pyramidal protrusions on top and twelve large protrusions around the edge of the square. Two of these protrusions are oblong shaped with two raised circles, two are curved with small triangles on top, and eight are narrow rods with grooved tips. 

Primary Object Classification
Metalwork

Primary Object Type
goldweight

Collection Area
African

Rights
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Keywords
cooperation
families (kinship groups)
goldweights
measuring
miniature (size attribute)
weighing devices