H x W x D: 1.6 x 6.5 x 3.1 cm (5/8 x 2 9/16 x 1 1/4 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Ghana
Date:
18th-late 19th century
Label Text:
This handle is from a kuduo, a cast copper alloy container used to store gold dust and precious beads. They were used in religious rites and also revered as shrines, in which sacred objects or sacrificial foods were kept, and placed before the stools of ancestral rulers.This handle probably survived as part of a weight set for measuring gold dust. Weights also acted as display pieces implying wealth in both the size of individual weights and the number owned. This was reinforced by the presence of pseudoweights, objects that do not meet weight requirements but are appealing in appearance. Pseudo weights can include bits of European metalwork like drawer pulls and tax seals or fragments of local metalwork, like this kuduo handle.
Description:
Cast copper alloy segmented vessel handle with L-shaped legs and the figure of a single bird with concentric circle wings.
Provenance:
Bevill Bressler & Schulman, Newark, New Jersey, -- to 1975
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