Object Details
- Akan artist
- Baule artist
- Label Text
- Among the Akan peoples of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, gold-covered objects are prestige items owned by chiefs and individuals of high status. This sword served as a state or ceremonial sword(afena) and formed part of the regalia of a high-ranking Akan chief. It is fashioned of a masterfully wrought iron blade and embellished with intricately carved double pommel hilt covered with gold leaf. Collection data attributes the sword to the Agnibilekrou region, located along the central border zone between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which may reflect where it was used rather than where it was made.
- In Akan societies, stools and state swords are the most important items of regalia. State swords are held and displayed when a ruler is installed to office, carried by retainers in royal processions, held by envoys and messengers of the chief as emblems of rank and authority, and displayed when a deceased chief lies in state (Cole and Ross 1977: 145-146; Ross 2002: 39). Originally, the blade would have been covered by an animal skin scabbard. Scholar Timothy Garrard indicates that Akan swords decorated with gold leaf have been made at least since the seventeenth century. He notes, “They appear to have been purely ceremonial; no record exists of their use in warfare, and they lack a cutting edge” (Garrard 1989: 66).
- Among the Baule and related peoples of Côte d'Ivoire, gold is associated with the ancestors (Vogel 1997). Gold-leafing is a centuries-old technique that may have been introduced to the Baule of Côte d'Ivoire from the Akan region of Ghana. In gold-leafing a small pellet of gold is repeatedly hammered and turned on an anvil to achieve a uniformly thin sheet. This leaf of gold is then placed on an ornately carved object and affixed with tiny metal staples or an adhesive. The range of Baule objects ornamented with gold leaf include wooden figures, fly whisk handles, sword hilts, knife handles, linguist staff finials, umbrella finials, combs, hair pins and other objects, including non-functional gongs and strikers, lanterns, jugs, trumpets, rifles, hats and umbrellas. They are part of the family's inheritance and are linked to ancestral forces and the soul of the family. Gold-covered objects are placed on display for funerals, for certain masquerade performances and for ceremonies associated with leadership. Gold-handled fly whisks may also be brandished by dancers during masquerade performances.
- Description
- Sword with a slightly curved iron blade distinguished by three openwork cruciform motifs and decorated with linear, chevron, and X-shaped patterns. There are six rounded protrusions along the upper portion of the sword’s inner edge. The sword’s wooden, spherical double pommel hilt, which terminates in a rounded conical tip, is embellished with gold foil affixed by metallic wires or staples over incised linear motifs arranged vertically and horizontally. Irregular designs ornament the shaft linking the two spherical forms of the hilt. Inscribed on the blade just below the hilt is the number N283 in white pigment.
- Provenance
- Helena Rubinstein, New York and Paris, before 1966
- Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, April 21, 1966, lots 170 and 171
- William W. Brill, New York, April 1966 to 2006
- Sotheby’s, New York, The William W. Brill Collection of African Art, November 17, 2006, sale NO8287, lot 48
- Steven Morris Fine Art, LLC, Birmingham MI, 2015
- Exhibition History
- Helena Rubinstein: Madame's Collection, Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, November 19, 2019-June 28, 2020
- Selections from the William W. Brill Collection of African Art, Milwaukee Public Museum, May 5 – August 31, 1969; St. Paul Art Center, St. Paul, MN, October 23 – December 21, 1969; Tweed Art Gallery, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN, January 14 – February 22, 1970
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- Early to mid-20th century
- Object number
- 2015-16-1
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Sculpture
- Medium
- Iron, wood, gold foil
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 71.1 × 9.8 × 7.5 cm (28 × 3 7/8 × 2 15/16 in.)
- Geography
- Agnibilekrou town border zone, Côte d'Ivoire
- Ghana
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- Object Name
- afena
- National Museum of African Art
- Topic
- Leadership
- Status
- Human
- Male use
- geometric motif
- male
- Record ID
- nmafa_2015-16-1
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7cb9231c4-9d91-452b-a9d0-3fa1937747e4
