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Linguist staffs7/13/2023 ![]() ![]() Due to its size and influence, the court and regalia practices of Asante came to dominate the Akan region. The Asantehene, leader of the Asante Empire, has the largest quantity of regalia at his disposal: cloths, staffs, stools, swords, ornaments, crowns, sandals, and flywhisks. Chiefs retained a wide variety of regalia, generally used for personal adornment, which was stored in special warehouses within the royal compound. Regalia belonged to the state, and was thus considered “stool property” ( agypadie). To this day, a paramount chief or king ( ȯmanhene) rules each state and retains command over a larger group of regional subchiefs. Before the rise of the Asante Empire around 1700, smaller Akan states like Adanse, Akwamu, and Denkyira dominated during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Akan states rose in importance in part as a response to the global demand for gold. Regalia-including woven textiles and elaborate gold ornaments-were omnipresent aspects of Akan courtly life since at least the fifteenth century. The shining metal was believed to be the earthly embodiment of the sun, and thus the force of life itself ( kra). Gold was not only a means of wealth and a way of displaying status, but also a spiritual substance. They claimed ancestry from Fusu Kwabi, who supposedly descended from heaven in the 1400s to teach men how to work gold. Members of the royal goldsmiths' guild exclusively produced royal gold ornaments, including staffs. When not accumulated as a form of personal wealth, it was melted down and cast into ornaments. Gold circulated in powdered form ( sika futuro) as the currency of the Asante Empire until 1901. Akan gold production likely began in the second half of the fifteenth century, yielding approximately fourteen million ounces of metal by 1900. The Importance of gold in Akan society Historically, only royals and members of their entourage could possess precious metals like locally mined gold ( sika) and imported silver. Incorporating highly symbolic motifs drawn from the vast visual repertoire of the Akan peoples of Ghana, this golden staff ( ȯkyeame poma) is unique for its association with both British colonialism and Ghanaian independence. Wider at their curved tip, the thick blades recede into dumbbell-shaped pommels incised with parallel lines. Three Akan state swords ( afena) lie with their blades crossed atop the seat of the stool. The outer supports are further ornamented with delicately peaked scallops along their perimeters. The solid central column is unornamented, while the outer supports curve and thicken to form an oval-shaped ring at each of the stool’s sides. Following the conventions of Akan stools, four outside supports flank its supportive central column. Each of the seat's tapered ends curves gently upwards. The stool is supported by a two-stepped rectangular base ( bambasa), which is just slightly shorter than its rectangular seat. A chain of oval-shaped links winds around the group of pillars. Thick double-bands encircle the freely carved columns both above their bases and at their summits. Three gathered cylinders form the lowest part of the finial, which in turn supports three columns with large, half-dome bases incised with radiating triangular designs. The technique was later adopted by European and American modernists like Constantin Brancusi and Chaim Gross in the early twentieth century. ![]() Done without the aid of preparatory models or drawings, direct carving is commonly used in Africa. Uniformly bright and golden-yellow, a characteristic of pure gold, the foil has only minor losses from use.Įxecuted as a direct carving, the finial has boldly delineated imagery of a ceremonial stool, chain, and swords. Adhesive has been used to adhere the gold leaf to the wooden sculpture beginning in the 1920s, artists used adhesive, rather than small gold staples, to adhere thin sheets of metal to wood. High relief bands are spaced evenly on one side of a small knob at the midpoint, while low relief bands are carved above that. ![]() Seven round bands punctuate the tapering shaft of the staff. Carved from wood and covered with flattened gold, this staff of office consists of a three-part shaft topped by a finial.
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