Ashanti Turtle

Akan gold weights or mrammou are units of measure made of copper alloy and used as a weight-measuring system by the Ashanti and other Akan peoples. Until modern times and the introduction of accurate mechanical scales, the status of an Akan man increased in proportion to the gold weights he owned. Sets of weights were gifted to newly-wedded men by their family to kickstart their careers in the emergent merchant class. After foundries had been producing gold weights for some time, casters began to think up ways to compete with rivals and increase their income. One way was to produce a better product by refining their craft. Another was to create innovative images. A third strategy was to attract new customers in as yet untapped markets. Chief among the targeted groups were foreigners. Inevitably, some of the creations designed to tempt colonials and travelers also delighted local audiences. Contact with outsiders had the net effect of expanding the repertoire of casters and, in the process, tweaking indigenous tastes. This lovely casting, mounted on a custom base, was selected from the estate collection of the late Professor Philip Gould (b. 1923). $275

3″

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