Goldweight with a Geometric Design
Asante
18th/19th century
Medium
Copper alloy
Dimensions
0.5 × 1.2 × 1.4 cm (3/16 × 1/2 × 9/16 in.)
Classification
gold-weight
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
55206
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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.