H x W x D: 5.4 x 2.8 x 5.7 cm (2 1/8 x 1 1/8 x 2 1/4 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Ghana
Date:
18th-late 19th century
Label Text:
A similar weight depicting a drummer has been documented in the state treasury of Esumigya, a town near Lake Bosumtwi in southern Asante. Local Asante traditions describe the Esumigya weights as copies of weights captured by Osei Tutu in the 1701 war with Ntim Gyakari of Denkyira; each army leader supposedly received a replica of a captured set of weights. Other examples, now in the British Museum, were taken by the British army in 1874 from the palace treasury of Asantehene Kofi Kakari in Kumasi, Ghana. The 1701 Asante capture of figurative weights from Denkyira may have spurred Asante development of the genre.
Description:
Figurative weight in the form of a large drum with a seated drummer.
Provenance:
Attributed to State Treasury, Esumigya, Ghana
Ernst Anspach, New York, 1971 to 1995
Exhibition History:
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
Red Gold, Copper Arts of Africa, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA, September 4-October 31, 1984
Published References:
Herbert, Eugenia W. 1984. Red Gold: Copper Arts of Africa. South Hadley, MA: Mt. Holyoke College Art Museum, p. 31, no. 30.
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