# Goldweight with a Geometric Pattern

- By: Asante (Ghana; Coastal West Africa)
- Date: 18th/19th century
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Classification: Decorative Arts
- Dimensions: Base: 2 × 3.2 × 3.9 cm (3/4 × 1 1/4 × 1 1/2 in.); Lid: 0.7 × 3.2 × 3.9 cm (1/4 × 1 1/4 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Culture: Ghana
- Credit line: Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/193088)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/2051cd80-2cd1-6255-2087-bc372d521ddc/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

The relatively complex design of this gold weight consists of two comb-like elements attached to a pair spirals by a central stem. It is almost a perfect square in format. These weights were used to measure gold dust, the local currency in the Akan-speaking regions of southern Ghana and the Côte d’Ivoire between the 15th and the 20th centuries. Made of a copper alloy, the gold weights enabled merchants to carry out trade in towns of the West African Sahel and, prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the late 15th century, North Africa.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0