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Source Description
Gold discs dangling on the chests of Akan state officials and elites showed their rank and duties. Worn by these <em>akrafo </em>(“soul people”) since the 1800s, they are often linked to <em>kradware, </em>officials who represent and purify (“wash”) the king’s soul. To make them, goldsmiths cast or flattened gold. Muslim North African gold coins likely inspired their form and material, while concentric water rings influenced their composition. This small disc is a typical pre-colonial example. Gold ornament making ceased until 1924; court officials now wear large discs.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
123778
label
Disk Pendant (akrafokɔnmu)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
123778
contentType
object
title
Disk Pendant (akrafokɔnmu)
description
Gold discs dangling on the chests of Akan state officials and elites showed their rank and duties. Worn by these <em>akrafo </em>(“soul people”) since the 1800s, they are often linked to <em>kradware, </em>officials who represent and purify (“wash”) the king’s soul. To make them, goldsmiths cast or flattened gold. Muslim North African gold coins likely inspired their form and material, while concentric water rings influenced their composition. This small disc is a typical pre-colonial example. Gold ornament making ceased until 1924; court officials now wear large discs.
date
1800s, before 1871; pin added later
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79901173
genreSpecific
Jewelry
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 7 x 7.6 x 1.6 cm (2 3/4 x 3 x 5/8 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante Empire/ Kingdom, member of the goldsmiths’ guild
accession
1944.29
Source extras
tec
Gold
tombstone
Disk Pendant (akrafokɔnmu), 1800s, before 1871; pin added later. Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante Empire/ Kingdom, member of the goldsmiths’ guild. Gold; overall: 7 x 7.6 x 1.6 cm (2 3/4 x 3 x 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, James Albert Ford Memorial Fund, 1944.290
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
An 1886 letter indicates that the English doctor Harry T. Reilly received this disk as a gift from three Asante chiefs for providing them with medical care while they were imprisoned in Cape Coast Castle in the aftermath of the Second Anglo-Ashanti war (1863-64).
citations
citation
Foote, Helen S. “A Gold Ornament from Ashanti.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 31, no. 10 (December 1944): p. 180-181.
page_number
Image p. 178.
citation
Coe, Ralph T. The Imagination of Primitive Man. Catalogue of the exhibition. Kansas City, KS: The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, 1962: no. 34.
citation
The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, December 1944:180-181, image p. 178
citation
Sims, Lowery Stokes. <em>The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 32, no. 36
citation
Cole, Herbert M., and Doran H. Ross. <em>The Arts of Ghana</em>. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, University of California, 1977.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 153; reproduced: p. 156, fig. 325
citation
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Ralph T. Coe. <em>The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World.</em> Kansas City, Mo: The Museum, 1962.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 25, cat. no. 34
citation
“Museum News.” <em>Tribal Art 30</em>, i. 2 (Spring 2026): 28-41.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 39
creditline
James Albert Ford Memorial Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:22:39.188000
sourceId
123778
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Gold
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a12827773b9e8af0