bead;
axe
- Museum number
- Af,Ash.53
- Title
- Series: Asante Gold
- Description
-
Hollow lost wax casting in gold of a bead in the shape of an axe (akuma). The axe has circular voids situated either side of the haft. There are two small square features at the top of the haft which were probably intedned to be voids but became filled with gold during casting. There is an integral suspension ring cast on the end of the haft.
- Production date
- 19thC early (before 1874)
- Dimensions
-
Length: 3.70 centimetres
-
Weight: 6.64 grammes
-
Width: 1.50 centimetres
-
Depth: 0.70 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- It is said that the Asantehene possesses a gold axe. The British, who intercepted it several times, before the war of 1900, mistakenly interpreted it as a declaration of war. In fact the sword was sent on peaceful errands to settle differences between states because the axe was said to be able to cut through all barriers to a satisfactory conculsion. However, it was also a warning that if the state to which it was sent proved recalcitrant and refused peaceful negotiations, it could be destroyed by being hacked to pieces with the axe – the Asante army.
Proverbs associated with axes:
‘It is he that is equipped with an axe who has the power to fell hard wood trees’ signifies possession of power and the ability to punish one’s subjects.
‘However difficult a case may be, it must be settled by counsel, not with an axe’ underlines the need for reason rather than blind force in settling a dispute.
‘If the knife will not cut, apply the axe’ highlights the necessity of adapting one’s response to the demands of a situation.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Good.
- Acquisition date
- 1876 (December)
- Acquisition notes
- See Christy Correspondence (File C)
Letter from W Sargeaunt, Crown Agents for the Colonies, 22 January 1877, confirming price of £371. 0. 4. for 100.275 ozs. of 'Ashantee Gold Ornaments.'
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af,Ash.53
- Additional IDs
-
CDMS number: Af1876C6.53 (old CDMS no.)