Goldweight: beetle · Ghana, Akan · ID: 3036261
sold
EUR 400
Provenance
Jürgen & Gisela Büse, Rheinbreitbach, Germany (collected in situ, 1973-75)Size
L: 4,5 cm
L: 1.8 inch
Description
brass, cast from nature;
a beetle, already perfectly formed by nature, replaced a wax model. After the intense heat had turned the beetle into dust, its ashes would be shaken and blown away through the channel left by the melted sprue. Since the beetle, with its variety of species, is the most common example this technique has become referred to as the “lost beetle” process.
Comparing literature
Phillips, Tom, African Goldweights, London 2010, p. 39