Ashanti gold weight. brass man with trousers, wearing suspenders and a hat, egg and sword. tarnished. 29.5 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:
Associated proverb "Once the egg is broken, you cannot repair it." Used in West Africa from 1400's through 1800's 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 7 centimeters
Comment:
Notation on card: Verso; “Once the egg is broken, you cannot repair it.”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.Ref: Garrard, Timothy. Akan Weights and the Gold Trade, Longman Group Ltd., London & New York, 1980. PAHMA Storage Loc: 20A, V -28-4. Native name: abrammuo, abrambo, or brambo = goldweight
Loans:
S1962-1963 #72: Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology/Alex Nicoloff (July 13, 1962–unknown)