This finely eighteenth-century Akan gold weight depicts a fabled antelope. The standing antelope is represented with two swirling, exaggerated horns which sweep across the length of the animal's back.
In the late fourteenth-century, the Akan developed a system of using cast brass weights for measuring gold dust, their main currency, which remained in use until the late 1800s. Gold weights could also be worn as charms to cure ailments, gifted with dowries of gold dust or sent as pertinent messages. Proverbs depicted in the form of the weight could provide a piece of advice, recall a debt, serve as a warning or token of friendship.
Estimated Period: 18th/19th Century
L: 6cm
H: 3.5cm
References
Tom Phillips, 'African Goldweights: Miniature Sculptures from Ghana 1400-1900', 66-69.
Royal Museums Greenwich, 'Akan Gold Weight'
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