This finely cast Akan gold weight depicts one small, forward-facing long-beaked bird perched on top of a trap-like structure, consisting of five semi-circular spiralled shapes. Cast brass weights, used by the Akan to measure gold dust - their main form of currency - between the late fourteenth century to the end of the nineteenth-century, are miniature marvels.
Alongside their functional use as weights, they could also be worn as charms to cure ailments, gifted with dowries of gold dust, or sent as pertinent messages. Akan proverbs, depicted in the form of the weight, could provide a piece of advice, recall a debt, serve as a warning or as a token of friendship. A proverb relating to birds and traps is: 'The clever bird is easily trapped in the leaves at the edges'.
H: 2.5cm
L: 3.5cm
W: 2.5cm
Estimated Period: 18th/19th Century
Reference
Royal Museums Greenwich, 'Akan Gold Weight'
(Click on images to enlarge)
