Goldweight [Chair] 19th-20th century

This miniature chair was created by the Akan people of Ghana. It is a goldweight. These weights were indispensable tools in the commercial transactions of the Akan people. From the 15th century onwards, the Akan became key players in the gold trade with Europeans, and this required the use of standardized weights and measures. The weights themselves took many forms. Some were geometric, but many were figurative. Representing people, animals, plants, and objects, they were grounded in the culture and social history of the Akan. A chair such as this one, for example, could symbolize leadership, authority, justice, or community. The production and use of goldweights declined in the early 20th century. Nevertheless, the weights survive as a reminder of the ingenuity of the Akan people, and their participation in global exchange. The interpretation of such objects rests on the work of historians, anthropologists, and art historians, using a variety of research resources to reconstruct their cultural meaning.