Asante (Ashanti) weight in the form of bellows

One of 33 Asante (Ashanti) brass weights for measuring gold from West Africa in the form of bellows

This Asante (Ashanti) weight, in the form of bellows, was used by the Asante people of West Africa to measure and trade commodities.

Asante weights were produced in a wide variety of shapes, patterns, and sizes by skilled metalworkers. Each design could carry a particular meaning and provide an insight into the Akan people and their culture. This one takes the form of a tool used in Asante metalworking. Bellows were made of hardwood and leather and were used in African and European cultures. They expanded and compressed, forcing air out of a crevice to control the strength of a charcoal fire. Gold, brass, iron, and other forms of metal were placed on top of these fires. The metals were then softened or melted down, and cast into jewellery, weights, and other practical tools needed for survival.

The Asante were part of the wider Akan civilisation, which comprised several populations that shared a language and many cultural traditions. They were primarily located in what is now Ghana. The region became known as the ‘Gold Coast’ because of its long-established and lucrative gold trade, which connected Akan states with merchants from across West Africa and European traders with whom they eventually also exchanged enslaved people and firearms. Gold brought considerable wealth to the region contributing to the rise of powerful Akan states. From around 1700, the Asante consolidated their power and expanded to become one of the most powerful empires in West Africa until after a series of conflicts, the British annexed it as a colony in 1902.