The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

Walker, Rosyln A.

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Description: The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

BOOKThe Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21180

This volume showcases and explores a rich and varied collection of Asante royal regalia in the broader context of Asante art. The Asante Kingdom, founded around 1701 in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), was renowned for gold, the foundation of its wealth and power. For centuries they mined this metal and traded it with northerners on the Saharan caravan routes and Europeans along the Atlantic coast. The earliest examples of Asante gold were recovered from the wreck of the Whydah, a slave ship that sank off Cape Cod in 1717. The Power of Gold focuses on a dazzling array of adornments and implements used by Asante royals and officials during the 18th century to the present day—providing a deeper understanding of the history, traditions, and visual arts of the Asante people, one of the thriving cultures of West Africa.

Author

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Print publication date May 2018 (out of print)

Print ISBN 9780300233049

EISBN 9780300263268

Illustrations 162

Print Status out of print

Publisher (out of print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene
Map showing the peoples of Ghana with Akan areas labeled in red
Asantehene Osei Tutu II following his enstoolment
Sacred Golden Stool of Asante
Asante fly whisk
A street in Kumasi
Skulls fastened to drums (Page "T")
Overhead view of the weaving process in the Samuel Cophie Workshop
Asante stool
Nana Kwabena Dumfe, Head Keeper of the Asantehene’s state swords
Sheet gold knife mounts with repoussé decorations: handle cap
The Asantehene Osei Bonsu of Kumasi, seated with officials, detail
Sun disc
Sun disc
Sun disc
Sun disc
Sword ornament in the form of a lion
Six Asante sword ornaments from the Nsuta regalia
Six Nsuta state swords with ornaments
Lion sword ornament at Juaben
Lion sword ornament at Ejisu
Four gold rings
Counselor's staff finial of lion and boy
Sword bearer with lion-adorned skullcap at Fetu Afahye festival
Dining table of the Nsutahene with lion-adorned stool and brass bowl
Sword ornament in the form of a spider
Necklace pendant with spider
Chief’s sandals with spider ornaments
Chief's crown with spider motifs
Queen Mother Nana Ama Dokua with spider headwear
Counselor's staff finial of Ananse on his web
Four adinkra cloth stamp patterns
Suit made of printed cloth with spider motifs
Printed cloth with spider motifs: fancy print cloth, detail
Printed cloth with spider motifs: wax print cloth depicting a spider and its web, detail
Gold spider in velvet-lined display box
Axe (sika akuma)
Captain Knapp Barrow (seated) and Captain Brandon Kirby (standing) with unidentified African men
The prince visiting Special Commissioner Brandon Kirby in Kumasi (page "V")
Bantama Coomassie (page "P")
Agyeman Kofi in Kumasi shortly before becoming the next Asantehene (page "X")
Frederick Grant’s registration form for photograph
Agyeman Kofi in Kumasi shortly before becoming Asantehe (page "U")
King Kwaku Dua and the Golden Stool in Kumase, with attendants
Annexation of Okwawu
Dr. Smith in Kyebi as ambassador of the English government
Large basin
Cup-bowl (kuduo)
Waisted vessel (kuduo)
Container (kuduo)
Container (kuduo)
Lidded vessel (forowa)
Lidded vessel (forowa)
Artifacts from a pirate ship
Small disc bead in concretion
Gold-weighing paraphernalia
Early-period stone and iron goldweights
Islamic-style goldweights
Early-period geometric goldweights
Late-period geometric goldweights
Late-period gold-dust spoons
Late-period circular and oval lidded storage containers
Late-period storage boxes for gold dust
Late-period gold-dust box and weights
Direct-cast figurative goldweights
Early-period figurative goldweights
Late-period figurative goldweights: humans
Late-period figurative goldweights: implements and weapons
Late-period figurative goldweights: implements and weapons
Late-period figurative goldweights: stools and furnishings
Gold weight
Royal stool
Stool for male leader
Chief's throne
Woman’s stool (mma dwa)
Rainbow stool (kontonkurowi dwa)
Chair
Chair (asipim)
Ceremonial helmet (denkyemkye)
Cap (krobonkye)
Sword bearer’s helmet
Sword bearer’s hat
State sword
Sword ornament of a gaboon viper with a hornbill
Sword ornament of crocodile with a mudfish
Sword ornament in the form of a lion
Sword ornament in the form of a spider
Sword Handle of a Pineapple
Handle cap for royal knife
Knife-sheath tip (sika boha)
Knife-sheath tip (sika boha)
Knife-sheath tip (sika boha)
Knife and knife-sheath
Chief’s umbrella and finial (ntuatire) in the form of a babadua
Umbrella finial (ntuatire) in the form of a porcupine (kotoko)
Umbrella finial (ntuatire) of a book
Atumpan
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu) with cowrie motif
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Pectoral disc pendant (akrafokonmu)
Linguist staff (ͻkyeame poma)
Linguist staff (ͻkyeame poma) with boy and lion
Linguist staff (ͻkyeame poma) with boy and lion, detail
Linguist staff (ͻkyeame poma)
Linguist staff (ͻkyeame poma), detail
Linguist staff finial of Ananse the spider
Linguist staff finial representing a hen and her chicks
Linguist staff finial depicting a man caught in a trap
Pendant
Bead
Necklace with multiple beads and amulet in the form of a stool
Necklace
Necklace
Necklace
Necklace (spider in web)
Necklace with multiple beads
Necklace
Finger ring ornament
Ring with a porcupine (kotoko)
Ring
Ring surmounted by a mudfish
Chief’s ring of a man-of-war ship
Ring with starburst
Man’s finger ring with five birds
Man’s signet ring with Victorian hand motif
Ring
Ring
Elbow ornament
Armband
Bracelet
Fly whisk
Pair of sandals
Pair of sandals
Chief’s crown
Crown
Headband
Textile (kente)
Man’s kente (Oyokoman pattern)
Man’s kente
Kente (green with peppers)
Man’s kente
Weaving sword (tabon)
Adinkra
Tobacco pipe
Bowl
Memorial head (nsodie)
Memorial head (nsodie)
Female figure with child
Doll (akua'ba), frontal view
Dual-disc pendant (awisiaado)
Woman’s kente (ammere Oyokoman pattern)
Woman’s kente

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Contents

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

Contents

Author

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21181

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Director’s Foreword

Agustín Arteaga

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana and its accompanying catalogue constitute the Dallas Museum of Art’s first exhibition devoted to Asante art and culture. The exhibition unites key objects of Asante art from the DMA’s rich and diverse collection of the arts of Africa with masterpieces from private collections and institutions around the globe to illustrate the...

Author

Agustín Arteaga

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21182

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Asantehene’s Foreword

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

I was pleased to accept the Dallas Museum of Art’s invitation to write a foreword to this catalogue. We Asante are justly proud of our long history and our rich and complex culture. I believe that the exhibition The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana marks an important step forward in presenting and explaining that culture to the wider world.

Author

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21183

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The Asante: A Brief Introduction

Malcolm D. McLeod

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

In 1999 the sixteenth Asantehene (king of Asante) was installed in a magnificent ceremony at Kumasi, the capital of the Asante peoples (fig. 1). The new monarch took the regnal name of Osei Tutu II (fig. 2). By doing so, he was reaching...

Author

Malcolm D. McLeod

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Related print edition pages: pp.19-26

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249.001

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21184

Chapter subject tags:Ashanti (African people)Akan (African people)Rites and ceremoniesKings and rulers

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Asante Regalia

Martha J. Ehrlich

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

Asante regalia consists primarily of objects owned by the state and intended for public display. Visual and verbal linkages are especially rich because Asante is traditionally a nonliterate culture. Stools, swords, and some gold ornaments predate the Asante state, while chairs, the spokesman’s staff, crowns, tobacco pipes, and inscribed protective charms display European or Muslim origins....

Author

Martha J. Ehrlich

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Related print edition pages: pp.27-34

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249.002

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21185

Chapter subject tags:RegaliaAshanti (African people)Rites and ceremonies

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The Nsuta King of Beasts: A Stranger in Paradise

Doran H. Ross

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

The Nsuta lion sword ornament (abɔsodeε) in the Dallas Museum of Art is an exceptional example of both this motif...

Author

Doran H. Ross

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Related print edition pages: pp.35-40

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21186

Chapter subject tags:RegaliaAshanti (African people)Akan (African people)

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The Great Asante Spider Goes to Dallas: The Life and Times of Ananse in Akan Verbal and Visual Arts

Doran H. Ross

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

Perhaps the most telling story goes . . .

Author

Doran H. Ross

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Related print edition pages: pp.41-48

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249.004

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21187

Chapter subject tags:RegaliaAshanti (African people)--FolkloreKente cloth

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A Cast Gold Spider, Brandon Kirby, and Kwaku Dua II: A History

Roslyn Adele Walker

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

Works of art have a history, or provenance. Bills of sale, artists’ and collectors’ diaries, and catalogue raisonnés are some of the resources available to reconstruct the history of a work of art. Unfortunately, however, these resources are not generally available when one is researching African...

Author

Roslyn Adele Walker

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Related print edition pages: pp.49-56

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249.005

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21188

Chapter subject tags:RegaliaAshanti (African people)Art--Provenance

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African Photographer Frederick Grant and Registering Copyright in 1884

Christraud M. Geary

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

On Saturday, the 28th day of June, 1884, Frederick Grant, “a most successful Photographer and large dealer in African views”Gold Coast Times 3, no. 140,...

Author

Christraud M. Geary

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Related print edition pages: pp.57-68

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249.006

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21189

Chapter subject tags:Photography--HistoryCopyright--PhotographsAshanti (African people)ImperialismPortrait photography

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Catalogue

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana

Catalogue

Author

Rosyln A. Walker (Editor)

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00249.007

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21190

Access to this content is only available to subscribers. If you are at an institution that currently subscribes to the A&AePortal, please login to your VPN before accessing the site. If you have already purchased an individual subscription, please sign in to your account to access the content. Learn more about subscriptions.

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