Gold weight

Museum number:
5-10895
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21050010895
Alternate number:
B-633 (previous number (Bascom’s number))
Accession number:
Acc.4088
Description:
gold weight. Ashanti man playing pressure drum, tarnished brass, 50.3g.
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:
Drums (membranophones) and Gold-weights
Function:
7.3 Weights, Measures, and Computing Devices
Context of use:
Notations on card: Verso: Drummer(?): “There is no other way of passing on the language of the drum.” “When ythe face of the drum is ther eto beat, you do not leave that to beat the side.Used in West Africa from 1400s to 1800s to measure gold, for trade or ransom, as charms or amulets, in the observance of customs, and to send messages.
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
height 6 centimeters
Comment:
PAHMA Storage Loc: V-28-6. abrammuo, abrambo or brambo = goldweight
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 2 titled Gold weight, accession number 5-10895, described as gold weight. Ashanti man playing pressure drum, tarnished brass, 50.3g.Hearst Museum object 2 of 2 titled Gold weight, accession number 5-10895, described as gold weight. Ashanti man playing pressure drum, tarnished brass, 50.3g.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Gold weight, accession number 5-10895, described as gold weight. Ashanti man playing pressure drum, tarnished brass, 50.3g.

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