Goldweight in the shape of a warhorn with human mandibles / Artist Unknown, African, Akan-Speaking Peoples, Ghana or Côte d'Ivoire
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1986/2.130
- Title
- Goldweight in the shape of a warhorn with human mandibles
- Artist Nationality
- Ghanaian
- Medium and Support
- brass
- Object Creation Date
- 1900-1985
- Object Creation Place
- Africa (continent)
- Akan (historical region)
- Creation Place 1
- Africa (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Akan (historical region)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Milford Golden
- Dimensions
- 4 cm x 1.5 cm x 2.3 cm (1 9/16 in. x 9/16 in. x 7/8 in.)
- Century
- Possibly 20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Metalwork
- Primary Object Type
- goldweight
- Physical Description
- Goldweight in the shape of a war horn, with representations of three human jawbones at the mouth of the horn and a cup-shaped mouthpiece.
- Subject Matter
- This figurative goldweight represents a war horn, such as those that were used at royal courts in what are now Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to praise the king. Actual horns were made of ivory and sometimes decorated with human jaws, as in the example represented here. Horns with human jawbones served as a warning to the king's enemies that they might be next. Also, the fact that their own jaws were now used to praise the person who had slain them added a further insult to already defeated enemies. An Akan proverb points to the significance of attaching enemy jawbones to a king's war horn in order to make it into an emblem of courage and strength: "if a horn deserves a jawbone, they attach one to it." This means that recognition of one's valor is not granted gratuitously, but must be earned.
- Secondary Keywords
- with valves
- aerophones
- africa (continent)
- geographic and political locations
- goldweights
- lip-vibrated aerophones
- lip-vibrated aerophones with conical bore
- objects we use
- sound devices
- sound devices by acoustical characteristics
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 583 x 789
- File Size
- 34 KB
- Record
- 1986/2.130
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1986-sl-2.130/1986_2.130.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1986-SL-2.130:1986_2.130.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Goldweight in the shape of a warhorn with human mandibles; Artist Unknown, African, Akan-Speaking Peoples, Ghana or Côte d'Ivoire." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1986-sl-2.130/1986_2.130.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024.
