Goldweight with geometric pattern with two spirals / Artist Unknown, African, Akan-Speaking Peoples, Ghana or Côte d'Ivoire
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1986/2.136
- Title
- Goldweight with geometric pattern with two spirals
- 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
- 0.6 cm x 1.7 cm x 1.9 cm (1/4 in. x 11/16 in. x 3/4 in.)
- Century
- Possibly 20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Metalwork
- Primary Object Type
- goldweight
- Physical Description
- Goldweight in the shape of a square, with a geometric pattern of 2 spirals in the center and edged teeth along two sides.
- Subject Matter
- Most Akan goldweights, including the oldest ones, represent geometric patterns. Goldweights such as this one have been used by Akan-speaking peoples in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire since at least the 15th century. According to Akan oral traditions, the soothsayer Djeya was the first to conceive of the equipment to weigh gold, including a balance with two pans, spoons, boxes for storing gold dust, vans and sifters, a small brush, touchstones, and the goldweights themselves. All this equipment was held together in a packet of cloth and parchment that was called "dja"-- short for Djeya, the name of the originator of the goldweighing apparatus. ("Dja" is the name used in Cote d'Ivoire; in Ghana the same object is called "futuo" or "samaa").
- Secondary Keywords
- africa (continent)
- descriptors
- design elements
- geographic and political locations
- goldweights
- motifs
- 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
- 132 KB
- Record
- 1986/2.136
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1986-sl-2.136/1986_2.136.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1986-SL-2.136:1986_2.136.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Goldweight with geometric pattern with two spirals; 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-2.136/1986_2.136.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 04, 2024.
