FIVE GOLD DUST SPOONS

Five Finely Decorated Gold Dust Spoons (Saawa). Akan Culture, Ghana

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For centuries, gold dust was used as a currency among the Akan of Ghana. Finely decorated spoons such as these, known as saawa, would have been used to carefully measure the precious dust in a financial transaction. Created from sheet brass, the handles of the spoons each display a variety of geometric designs.

Using a spoon, gold dust would be lifted from a storage box and placed on one side of a beam scale, to be measured against a weight. Subsequently, the gold dust currency would be stored in small bronze containers, and the tools used to handle it - namely, spoons and gold weights - would be carried in a bag called a futuo.

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Ex Private Collection, UK

Estimated Period: 19th Century

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Reference

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'Spoon', Smithsonian Institution

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