Ashanti gold weight. brass crossed crocodiles, each with fishes. shared body with diagonal cross-hatching and perpendicular raised ridges, raised heads, curved tails. Cf. 660, 691-694, 702, 703. 34.9 grams
Donor:
Berta Bascom
Collection place:
Ghana
Verbatim coll. place:
Ghana, Ashanti
Culture or time period:
Ashanti
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Materials:
Brass (alloy)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Gold-weights
Function:
7.3 Weights, Measures, and Computing Devices
Context of use:
Notation on card: Verso: Proverb: “Bellies mixed up, crocodiles mixed up; we have between us only one belly, but if we get anything to eat it passers down our respective gullets” (Rattray) (Quoted in criticism of a greedy person who refules to share things with his relatives).Notation on card: Verso: Probverb: “If the mudfish in the stream grows fat, it does so to the advantaghe of the crocodile” (Kyerematen, Kolb 1) “ To survive you must sometimes accept heavey sacrifices (Kolb II)Used in W. Africa from 1400s to 1800s to measure gold, fro trade or ransom, as charms or amulets, in the observance of customs, and to send messages.
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
height 7.5 centimeters and width 7 centimeters
Comment:
PAHMA Storage Loc: 20A, V -28-6
Loans:
S1971-1972 #10: Department of Anthropology (UC Berkeley)/Michael J. Harner (July 28, 1971–July 28, 1971)