Goldweight in the shape of an axe / Artist Unknown, African, Akan-Speaking Peoples, Ghana or Côte d'Ivoire

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About this Item

Record Details

Accession Number
1986/2.131
Title
Goldweight in the shape of an axe
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)
Dimensions
4.1 cm x 2.2 cm x 0.3 cm (1 5/8 in. x 7/8 in. x 1/8 in.)
Primary Object Classification
Metalwork
Primary Object Type
goldweight
Physical Description
Goldweight in the shape of an axe, with a smooth handle attached to a rounded top with an inserted, triangular blade.
Subject Matter
Farming tools are a rather common motif among figurative gold weights. Akan-speaking peoples in what are now Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire have used and produced weights to weigh amounts of gold dust for mercantile transactions from at least the 15th century onwards. This example shows an axe in the form that is typical for the Asante region: a handle, which is ticker at one end, through which an iron blade is mounted. Axes like these were used to fell of trees and chop wood.
Figurative gold weights were sometimes related to one or more of the many proverbs that have play a prominent role in Asante (and related Akan) language and culture. However, it is often hard to tell whether an individual weight was intended to signify a proverb or not, and if so, which one, or how this particular proverb would have been understood by the speakers and listeners in a specific context. Thus, it might be that this example of a gold weight in the shape of an axe was intended to evoke the proverb "no matter what the dispute, it must be settled by arbitration, not an axe," but we do not know for sure that it was always used or understood in this way. In fact, an incident where the King of the Asante sent a golden axe to the British colonial rulers in 1881 shows that the British were not sure how to take the symbolism of the axe or the proverbs associated with it-- did it refer to war or to peace?
Primary Keywords
axe
axes (tools)
ghana (nation)
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
3888 x 2592
File Size
119 KB
Record
1986/2.131
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1986-sl-2.131/1986_2.131.jpg

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1986-SL-2.131:1986_2.131.JPG

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"Goldweight in the shape of an axe; 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-2.131/1986_2.131.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 19, 2024.
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