polity ashanti confederationconcept:era early modern
Ashanti Gold Weight (Abrammuo) / Kuduo Vessel
Cast brass figurative gold weight (abrammuo) and/or kuduo lidded vessel from the Ashanti Confederation (present-day Ghana), c. 18th–early 20th century. Gold weights were used to measure gold dust as currency; kuduo were prestige containers for gold and valuables. Both exemplify Ashanti lost-wax casting and geometric or figurative iconography.
Scholarly Significance
Type-representative node for Ashanti gold weights and kuduo vessels — the most distinctive expression of Ashanti material culture and economic practice.
Notes
- ·The Akan-speaking peoples, including the Ashanti, developed a sophisticated gold-weight system to measure gold dust as currency from at least the 14th century.
- ·Figurative weights (depicting animals, humans, proverbs, everyday objects) encode proverbial and symbolic meaning; their imagery relates to Akan oral literature.
- ·Kuduo vessels (lidded brass containers) were used to store gold dust, valuables, and offerings. They were associated with the soul (sunsum) and were buried with their owner.
- ·The Ashanti Confederation's gold resources made it one of West Africa's wealthiest polities; gold was central to statecraft, diplomacy, and royal display.
- ·After the fall of Kumasi (1874, 1900, 1901 British campaigns), large quantities of Ashanti regalia entered European collections; repatriation of items such as the Asante Golden Stool's associated regalia is an ongoing diplomatic issue.
- ·Major collections: British Museum, Musée du quai Branly, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.