• Asante, Akan People, Ghana and Ivory Coast, Africa

• 19th C.

• Bronze

• 3.375 in. / 8.57 cm,

• Height on plinth: 5 in. / 12.7 cm

According to Niangoran-BVouah, this image of a bird pecking its tail must be linked with the African proverb "return to the sources." To know where you are going, look from where you came - recognize the past and you will have an inkling of what is in front of you. (From the African Heritage and Research Center).

The weights of the Akan peoples of the former African Gold Coast were in use from about 1400 to 1900, for the weighing of gold dust.

Before the 16th century, gold weights were mainly geometric in design. The "newer" figured weights were intended for practical use as prestige weights and usually represented Akan proverbs.

Goldweights were made from copper alloys using the lost wax technique (also called "cire perdue" or "lost mold").

In 1899 the use of gold dust as a means of payment was banned in Ghana by the British.