Goldweight: sword with scabbard · Ghana, Akan · ID: 3036265
sold
EUR 500
Provenance
Jürgen & Gisela Büse, Rheinbreitbach, Germany (collected in situ, 1973-75)Size
L: 9 cm (sword)
L: 3.5 inch (sword)
Description
brass, bipartite/separate worked, two monkey skulls as emblematic device;
in the original weapons the monkey skulls would have been actual skulls. Sword decorations including large red shells or ape heads were referred to in one of the first accounts of the region in 1601.
The object Goldweight: sword with scabbard with the object ID 3036265 was part of the auction 76th tribal art auction on March 22, 2014. The object with the lot number 305 achieved a sales price of EUR 500 with an asking price of EUR 300.
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Comparing literature
Phillips, Tom, African Goldweights, London 2010, p. 110 f.
Publications
Büse, J.E., Akan-Goldgewichte: Eine Kultur in Bronze, in: Sammler-Journal 2 (1979), p. 80