Replica Weight Item Number: K2.96 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Replica gold weight. Two bronze birds mounted on a wooden base. The birds have rounded eyes with a horizontal slit across the middle. Four cylindrical projections come from the head. The concentric circular wings rest at either side. While the bodies of the birds face each other in the middle, their beaks are turned backward toward their flat, angled tails. The base of each bird is attached to a long, thin four-stepped bronze pedestal, which is attached to the plain wooden base.
History Of Use
Akan gold weights were used to weigh powdered gold (gold dust), the standard currency of the Asante Empire from the 17th to the mid-19th centuries. Locally referred to as abrammuo (singular mrammuo), these weights were usually made of a brass alloy. The figures were cast using the lost-wax technique, and range in form from simple geometric designs (thought to be the earliest forms) to figurative forms such as animals and humans or items such as swords and Adinkra symbols.
Cultural Context
Reproduction of an Akan style gold weight.
Narrative
Purchased (along with K2.94, K2.95 and K2.97) as a reproduction, from a Vancouver store that specialized in art reproductions. The label on the wooden base of this piece says "Authentic copyrighted reproduction made from the original at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Ill." They were acquired by MOA curator Audrey Hawthorn, who valued the educational potential of items, even if they were reproductions. But as commercially produced 'copyrighted reproductions' the pieces also represent a contemporary coloniality, in that the individual authorship of an Asante artist has been replaced with an American museum as the proprietor of the design.
Item History
- Made in Chicago, Illinois, USA during 1968
- Owned by Museum Art before September 1968
- Received from Leon & Thea Koerner Foundation (Funding source) and Museum Art (Seller) during September 1968
What
- Name
- Replica Weight
- Identification Number
- K2.96
- Type of Item
- weight
- Material
- bronze metal and wood
- Manufacturing Technique
- cast
- Overall
- height 4.0 cm, width 5.0 cm, depth 2.5 cm
Who
- Culture
- Akan and Asante
- Previous Owner
- Museum Art
- Received from
- Leon & Thea Koerner Foundation (Funding source) and Museum Art (Seller)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
When
- Creation Date
- during 1968
- Ownership Date
- before September 1968
- Acquisition Date
- during September 1968
Other
- Item Classes
- metalwork
- Condition
- good
- Current Location
- Case 101
- Accession Number
- 0143/0009