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1930.7.20

Brass weight for weighing gold, in the shape of two crocodiles crossed at the body.

1930.7.20

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Collection type
Object
Description
Brass weight for weighing gold, in the shape of two crocodiles crossed at the body.
Geographical reference
Ghana
Africa > Western Africa > Ghana
Ashanti
Cultural groups
Asante
Person
Field collector Robert Powley Wild
PRM source Robert Powley Wild
Date / Period
Date made: 1700-1900, uncertain
Date collected
By 1930
Acquisition information
Donated: 1930
Materials and processes
Material Brass Metal, Process Lost Wax Cast
Dimensions
Length: max 53 mm, Width: max 50 mm, Weight 39 g
Object numbers
Accession number: 1930.7.20
Research and responses

According to de Kolb (1968) Ashanti Goldweights No.1, Gallery d'Hautbarr: New York, page 58 the proverb relating to the crocodile with two heads and one body is 'We have different mouths, but have the same stomach.'. [MJD DDF Body Arts Project 2010/2011 13/12/2010]

This weight was one of 97 studied by Ryan Brown, an MSc student at Cranfield University, between 2015-2016. Ryan used HH-XRF analysis to determine that the gold weights matched the composition of contemporary Portuguese brasses thus corroborating the literature that identifies Portugal as the source of Akan copper alloys. He also found that across the five centuries of gold weight production their composition did not greatly vary and it is therefore difficult to infer any datable information. The title of his Master’s thesis was “Non-Destructive Compositional Analysis of Akan Copper-Alloy Goldweights from Ghana, in the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford: Characterisation and Provenance” and a copy can be found in RDF under 1938.18.

Search terms: Measurement, Figure, Gold Weight, Animal Figure

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