Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Ghana Hornbill Goldweight, c. 1880

The majority of the wealth and prestige for the Asante kingdom in Ghana, West Africa centered around the excavation of gold.  The measurement of this precious ore was an exact science as early as 1600.   Weights called mbrammoo were crafted in brass and bronze and used to weigh gold dust, which was used as a currency for all commercial transactions. Sets of these standardized weights would have been owned by merchants throughout Ghana.

This brass weight from the V&A is surmounted by the figure of a hornbill bird--a popular subject for Asante goldsmiths. This plucky bird is shown standing on the top of a seven-stepped pyramid. In the West African culture, the hornbill is a symbol of both male and female fertility and is considered the embodiment of peaceful, thriving communities.  A popular saying states, "a bird has a long bill it uses it for eating on its own side of the river and not for stretching across the water." Similarly, these weights represented the meeting of communities for trade, carrying messages of peace and goodwill. 

Gifts of Grandeur: The LeRoy Coral Bracelet, 1860



The Victoria & Albert Museum



This delicate jewel of marine coral and African gold depicts intricately carved flowers emerging from a woven basket. This sort of naturalistic jewelry became especially popular in the mid-Nineteenth Century, especially in Italy where this bracelet was made. Coral’s softness allowed for easy carving, but it could also be used in its natural form, taking advantage of the appeal of its natural branches in styles reminiscent of those from Asia and Africa.

Most of the coral used in Europe came from the sea near Naples, Italy, and the medium quickly became a favorite symbol of world travel around 1815.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Ghana Hornbill Goldweight, c. 1880

The majority of the wealth and prestige for the Asante kingdom in Ghana, West Africa centered around the excavation of gold.  The measurement of this precious ore was an exact science as early as 1600.   Weights called mbrammoo were crafted in brass and bronze and used to weigh gold dust, which was used as a currency for all commercial transactions. Sets of these standardized weights would have been owned by merchants throughout Ghana.

This brass weight from the V&A is surmounted by the figure of a hornbill bird--a popular subject for Asante goldsmiths. This plucky bird is shown standing on the top of a seven-stepped pyramid. In the West African culture, the hornbill is a symbol of both male and female fertility and is considered the embodiment of peaceful, thriving communities.  A popular saying states, "a bird has a long bill it uses it for eating on its own side of the river and not for stretching across the water." Similarly, these weights represented the meeting of communities for trade, carrying messages of peace and goodwill. 

Card of the Day: The Gathering of Chiefs at Nairobi, Kenya Colony

After the Great War, the King and Queen wanted to make sure that areas of the Commonwealth that had received little attention during the war were looked after properly. However, King George V’s declining health prevented him from making extended journeys abroad. He often sent his sons to stand in for him.

The thirty-second card in the 1935 Silver Jubilee series by Wills’s Cigarette Co. depicts a scene of the Prince of Wales (later, briefly, King Edward VIII, subsequently the Duke of Windsor) and his younger brother, the Duke of Gloucester on such a journey to British East Africa.

The reverse of the card reads:

THE GATHERING OF CHIEFS AT NAIROBI, KENYA COLONY


The autumn of 1928, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Gloucester spent in East Africa, and October 2nd, a great gathering of Chiefs was held at Nairobi to enable the head men and counselors of the tribes in British East Africa to express their common loyalty. The chiefs of twenty-seven tribes approached the dais on which the two Princes stood, and after saluting—some in military fashion, some bowing, some touching their foreheads—shook hands with the Prince of Wales. He presented each one with a sheathed hunting knife attached to a leather belt, the Chiefs returning their thanks and swearing fealty to the King-Emperor.