gold weight in the shape of a bird on a stepped pyramid

unrecorded Asante artist, artist

gold weight in the shape of a bird on a stepped pyramid, late 1800s–early 1900s

Where object was made: Côte d'Ivoire

Material/technique: brass; casting

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 2.1 x 2 x 2.2 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 0 13/16 x 0 13/16 x 0 7/8 in

Credit line: Gift of Robert A. Hiller in honor of Chantal de Buchy

Accession number: 2018.0066

On display: Stewart Gallery

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Beginning in the ninth century, Akan-speaking communities of West Africa established a dynamic trade hub that connected populations across the African continent and beyond. To facilitate the exchange of commodities like gold, ivory, salt, and pepper, Akan artisans created brass scoops, scales, and weights like these to measure gold dust. Gold dust was the standardized unit of currency created from the abundant mineral deposits found along what European colonizers would later term the “Gold Coast.”