V&A : Asante Goldweights
EXHIBITION ANNOUNCEMENT
Victoria and Albert Museum, Room 116
Now through 31 December 2007
Natural gold resources generated enormous wealth for the Asante kingdom in Ghana, West Africa. During the 19th century, gold was at the centre of the Asante economy, and gold dust was the most common currency. Small weights (mbrammoo) cast in brass and bronze were used to weigh gold dust.
Goldweights were not simply functional items. They symbolised the meeting of communities for trade. Many carried messages of peace and goodwill. Geometric shapes and entwined plants reminiscent of Islamic art, probably influenced by long-standing links with Muslim North Africa, predominated among the early weights.
Other weights carried mottoes and warnings from popular Asante proverbs. Naturalistic depictions of court regalia and human and animal figures reminded traders of the watchful eyes of government and exhorted them to live honourable lives to save their souls.
This year marks 200 years since the British parliament abolished the slave trade. Europeans first went to West Africa for gold, but in the 16th century, with the opening of plantations across the Atlantic, the region became the principal source of slaves for the New World. Europeans sold weapons and luxury items to Asante rulers in exchange for slaves.
2007 also marks 50 years of Ghanaian independence. In 1957 Ghana became the first independent post-colonial African state. The British had annexed former Asante territories as the Gold Coast colony in 1900 after a series of battles over trade.
Some of the objects in this display are spoils of these conflicts. Following Asante efforts to protect a coastal trading outlet, British forces invaded the state capital, Kumasi, on 4 February 1874.
Victoria and Albert Museum, Room 116
Now through 31 December 2007
Natural gold resources generated enormous wealth for the Asante kingdom in Ghana, West Africa. During the 19th century, gold was at the centre of the Asante economy, and gold dust was the most common currency. Small weights (mbrammoo) cast in brass and bronze were used to weigh gold dust.
Goldweights were not simply functional items. They symbolised the meeting of communities for trade. Many carried messages of peace and goodwill. Geometric shapes and entwined plants reminiscent of Islamic art, probably influenced by long-standing links with Muslim North Africa, predominated among the early weights.
Other weights carried mottoes and warnings from popular Asante proverbs. Naturalistic depictions of court regalia and human and animal figures reminded traders of the watchful eyes of government and exhorted them to live honourable lives to save their souls.
This year marks 200 years since the British parliament abolished the slave trade. Europeans first went to West Africa for gold, but in the 16th century, with the opening of plantations across the Atlantic, the region became the principal source of slaves for the New World. Europeans sold weapons and luxury items to Asante rulers in exchange for slaves.
2007 also marks 50 years of Ghanaian independence. In 1957 Ghana became the first independent post-colonial African state. The British had annexed former Asante territories as the Gold Coast colony in 1900 after a series of battles over trade.
Some of the objects in this display are spoils of these conflicts. Following Asante efforts to protect a coastal trading outlet, British forces invaded the state capital, Kumasi, on 4 February 1874.
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