Goldweight in the shape of a bird / Artist Unknown, African, Akan-Speaking Peoples, Ghana or Côte d'Ivoire
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1997/1.449
- Title
- Goldweight in the shape of a bird
- 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. James and Vivian Curtis
- Dimensions
- 1.7 cm x 0.9 cm x 1.6 cm (11/16 in. x 3/8 in. x 5/8 in.)
- Century
- 20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Metalwork
- Primary Object Type
- goldweight
- Physical Description
- Goldweight in the shape of a small bird, with a long, thin neck ending in a small head, resting to the side of the body.
- Subject Matter
- Birds are a popular motif on the gold weights that have historically been used by Akan speaking peoples in what is now Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Like other weights depicting animals, humans, or artifacts, bird-shaped gold weights are linked to proverbs (or "mmebusem"). Proverbs existed independently of weights and many be used in a wide variety of contexts. Similarly, proverbs were not exclusively represented on gold weights, but on many other objects as well, such as staffs. Moreover, while some weights are linked to only one proverb, other weights might elicit a number of different proverbs, based on the individual choice of the speaker, as well as regional and linguistic differences. In the case of birds, there are dozens of proverbs that might be applicable depending on the kind of bird depicted, its bodily position, and the attributes it might carry. It is not clear what kind of bird is represented in this example; a general bird proverb that might be applicable says, "When the feathers of a fowl grow, they still remain attached to its body." In the Asante context of chiefs and commoners, this means that no matter how much the subjects of a chief grow in wealth or importance, they still owe allegiance to their chief.
- Secondary Keywords
- africa (continent)
- animals and creatures
- geographic and political locations
- goldweights
- 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
- 3888 x 2592
- File Size
- 118 KB
- Record
- 1997/1.449
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1997-sl-1.449/1997_1.449.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1997-SL-1.449:1997_1.449.JPG
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- Full citation
-
"Goldweight in the shape of a bird; 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-1997-sl-1.449/1997_1.449.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 18, 2024.
