4 Rings with Goldweights

4 finger rings with gold weights Asante, Ghana Ohne Sockel / without base Yellow cast. Ø 2 - 3 cm. Provenance: - Galerie Walu, Zurich. - Helmut (1931-2021) and Marianne Zimmer, Zurich. Four gold weights that were finger-ringed in the 1960s for sale to interested parties. The weights of the Akan people on the former Gold Coast were in use from about 1400 to 1900. Their designation is not for the material of manufacture, but for their function, the weighing of the gold dust which was also used as a means of payment. Until the end of the 19th century, gold dust was therefore actively traded by the Asante and related peoples in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Special spoons ("saawa"), mostly made of sheet brass, were used to take the gold dust ("sikafuturo") from a container ("adaka", "kuduo", etc.) to weigh it on a beam balance ("nsania") with the help of counterweights ("abrammoo" / "mrammou, "abrammuo", etc.). The gold weights were made of copper alloys using the technique of lost wax casting (also called "cire perdue" or "lost mold"). Early metal castings were mainly geometric in design, and it was not until the 16th century that figurative weights appeared. These "newer" weights continued to be for practical use, and in addition, as prestige weights, most often depicted Akan proverbs. In 1899, the use of gold dust as currency was banned by the British in Ghana. Further reading: Niangoran-Bouah, Georges (1984). L'univers Akan des poids a peser l'or / The Akan World of Gold Weights. Abidjan: Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines. CHF 100 / 200 EUR 100 / 200