Goldweight with a Geometric Design

Description

This rectangular brass-cast gold weight is crisscrossed by the swastika form. The designs of gold weights are incredibly diverse—consisting of simple geometric designs in either high or low relief to representational sculptural forms based on items essential to West African life. Gold weights were used to measure gold dust, the local currency in the Akan-speaking regions of southern Ghana and the Ivory Coast between the 15th and the 20th centuries.

Provenance

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gottlieb, Chicago, Ill., by 1979; given to the Art Institute, 1979.

Goldweight with a Geometric Design

Asante

18th/19th century

Accession Number

55206

Medium

Copper alloy

Dimensions

0.5 × 1.2 × 1.4 cm (3/16 × 1/2 × 9/16 in.)

Classification

gold-weight

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gottlieb