Akan Bird Gold Weight — From the Collection of Nadya Levi

Ghana, Akan cultural area — Height: 5 cm

At just 5 cm high, this small bird-shaped brass weight is an appealing example of the Akan tradition of combining practical objects with artistic expression and cultural meaning.

For centuries, Akan goldsmiths in present-day Ghana and neighbouring parts of Côte d’Ivoire produced elaborate systems of weights for measuring gold dust. From around the 15th century until the introduction of modern coinage around 1900, gold dust played a central role in regional commerce. Small brass weights, known as abrammuo in Akan, were used with balance scales to establish quantities in trade. Each weight was individually cast using the lost-wax technique, allowing artisans to create an extraordinary variety of geometric and figurative forms.

But these objects were not simply instruments of commerce. Figurative weights could also embody proverbs, moral teachings and observations about human behaviour. Birds and other animals provided a rich source of imagery through which ideas about wisdom, caution and social relationships could be expressed. Some figurative weights were also associated with divination and the communication of traditional knowledge, although the precise meaning of an individual example cannot always be established.

From the collection of Nadya Levi

This example comes from the collection of Nadya Levi (1929–2021), sculptor, collector and African art dealer. Born in Bucharest, she studied sculpture at the Antwerp Academy and developed a strong interest in African art during the early 1960s. Alongside her work as an artist, she built a collection and became part of Antwerp’s African art world, meeting and exchanging ideas with dealers and collectors of her time.

For me, the connection with my mother’s collection adds another dimension to this modest object. Nadya had an artist’s eye for form and an enduring interest in the sculptural qualities of African objects. This small bird brings together those qualities with a much older tradition in which art, trade and knowledge were closely intertwined.

A compact and characterful piece for collectors interested in Akan metalwork, the history of West African commerce and the artistic traditions of Ghana.