Gold Weight Item Number: 3600/16 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Small figurative gold weight of a bird. The bird's body is formed with two loops, one slipped over the other, to create a knot. The head is at the other end of one loop, and the tail opposite the end of the other loop. The bird has a long neck with a comb on top of its head. The tail is flat and triangular, angled upwards, and marked with concentric triangles. The bird stands on a thin rectangular base.
Gold weights were historically made and used by the Akan peoples to weigh powdered gold ('gold dust'), which was used as the standard currency from the seventeenth to mid-nineteenth centuries. Locally referred to as abrammuo (singular mrammuo), they were usually made of a brass alloy and were based on the Islamic
weight
system. Each form had a known measurement, and those engaging in trade at that time would own a full set of weights. The pieces were cast using the lost-wax technique, ranging 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.
Purchased by Peter Oberlander on his frequent trips to Africa, sometime between 1958-1990. Oberlander was teaching and consulting in Ghana, and consulting for the UN in Nigeria and Kenya.