Gold Weight: Ceremonial Whisk
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Cast brass gold weights, known as abrammuo (sing. mrammuo), were developed by Akan merchants and rulers to standardize the trade in gold dust from mines in present-day Ghana in networks of exchange that extended beyond the Sahara Desert. Domestically, gold was valued by the Akan kings for its decorative and symbolic qualities. Aside from bringing enormous wealth to the Akan kingdoms through trade, gold was considered the earthly counterpart to the sun and an incarnation of kra, or life force, and was incorporated into a wide spectrum of courtly paraphernalia. While the earliest gold weights from the fifteenth century displayed abstract or geometric motifs inspired by North African Islamic traditions, later weights from the seventeenth century onward were figurative in design. Some take their imagery from royal accoutrements, likely in reference to the Akan kings' increasing involvement in the regulation of the trade at this time.A miniature brass version of a type of royal fly whisk, made of gold-covered wood and tipped with the long tail hairs of a horse, is an item of regalia displayed by the king and other high-ranking officials of the Akan courts. Such amulets, constructed from Qur'anic texts folded and encased in leather, are evidence of the cosmopolitan nature of the Akan courts' engagement with the outside world through trade.Free picture Gold Weight: Ceremonial Whisk integrated with the OffiDocs web apps
