ASHANTI FIGURAL GOLD WEIGHT, CROCODILE C.1900, ex: Sir Cecil Armitage Collection

Bronze, large at 3 1/4” length, quaintly modeled as a crocodile with spread legs. Interestingly, the underside with a cavity (fetish?) and is detailed in a lineal pattern including the inside of the cavity. The crocodile, deified as Ta Kora or Tano is among the most powerful in the Akan pantheon.  Gold dust was the currency of the slave and ivory trade. These weights were used on balance beam scales to measure it for transactions. They represent proverbs that were integral to the Ashanti culture. After an exemplary military career in Africa, Sir Cecil Armitage was made Governor of Gambia (1921-27). He was fascinated by the arts of East Africa, particularly those cast in bronze and formed a collection, largely related to the gold weights and containers which served the slave trade at that time.