Goldweight with a Geometric Pattern

Arts of Africa

18th/19th century

Asante or related Akan-speaking peoples
Ghana
Coastal West Africa

Weights for measuring gold dust were made and used throughout Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire for more than five centuries, from about 1400 to 1900. These weights are either figurative or abstract and are usually divided into an early period (c. 1400–1700) and a late period (c. 1700–1900). During the late period, an increased variety and number of figurative and abstract weights emerged, although abstract weights continued to be the most common.
This rectangular gold weight features four raised bars of equal length. The minimal surface design adds to the form’s elegance. In addition to gold weights, other apparatuses used in the time consuming process of weighing gold included scales, spoons, shovels, storage boxes, and brushes.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Asante
Title: Goldweight with a Geometric Pattern
Place: Ghana (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1700–1899
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: 1.3 × 2.5 × 3.2 cm (1/2 × 1 × 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman
Reference Number: 2007.584
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/193086/manifest.json

Muriel Kallis Newman (died 2008), Chicago, Ill., by 1980; given to the Art Institute, 2007.

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