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Source Description
Gold sheaths covered the cast iron blade of a king’s ceremonial knife (<em>sikay</em>), wrapping them with symbolism. In Akan states like the Asante Kingdom, gold embodies lifeforce (<em>kra</em>) and is the sun’s earthly counterpart. Only goldsmiths’ guild members could make gold ornaments for the royals and their entourage, or for the royal treasury. Here, the goldsmith used a tool to push the raised floral, leaf, and geometric designs from the back of soft sheet of gold (repoussé technique). Small dots outlining some motifs were punched into the metal. Similarly decorated gold sheets and solid ornaments capped a knife’s handle.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
115161
label
Knife-sheath tip (sika boha)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
115161
contentType
object
title
Knife-sheath tip (sika boha)
description
Gold sheaths covered the cast iron blade of a king’s ceremonial knife (<em>sikay</em>), wrapping them with symbolism. In Akan states like the Asante Kingdom, gold embodies lifeforce (<em>kra</em>) and is the sun’s earthly counterpart. Only goldsmiths’ guild members could make gold ornaments for the royals and their entourage, or for the royal treasury. Here, the goldsmith used a tool to push the raised floral, leaf, and geometric designs from the back of soft sheet of gold (repoussé technique). Small dots outlining some motifs were punched into the metal. Similarly decorated gold sheets and solid ornaments capped a knife’s handle.
date
1800s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80008265
genreSpecific
Arms and Armor
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 6.9 cm (2 11/16 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante Empire/Kingdom, Kumasi or probably Kumasi, member of the goldsmiths' guild
accession
1935.308
Source extras
tec
Gold
tombstone
Knife-sheath tip (sika boha), 1800s. Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante Empire/Kingdom, Kumasi or probably Kumasi, member of the goldsmiths' guild. Gold; overall: 6.9 cm (2 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1935.308
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
Gold objects like this were frequently melted down to make new objects in new fashions.
citations
citation
Ratton, Charles. « Les bijoux en forme de disque etc. » Special Issue,<em> Présence Africaine </em>: <em>L'Art </em>Nègre 10-11. Paris : Aux Editions du Seuil (1951).
page_number
Ill. opp. p. 192, no. 101, text p. 152.
citation
Wixom, William D. “African Art in the Cleveland Museum of Art,” <em>African Arts</em> 10, no. 3 (April 1977): 16-24.
page_number
Repr. p. 21.
citation
L'Art Negre, Presence Africaine, 10-11, Aux Editions du Seuil, opp. p. 192, no. 101, text p. 152.
citation
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), and James Johnson Sweeney. <em>African Negro Art.</em> New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1935.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 39, no. 162
citation
Milliken, William. "Exhibition of Gold." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art </em>34, no. 9 (November 1947): 211-212.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 211-212; Reproduced: p. 235
citation
Brooklyn Museum. <em>Masterpieces of African Art. Exhibition Dates: October 21, 1954-January 2, 1955</em>. [Brooklyn]: Brooklyn Museum, 1954.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 39
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 388
citation
Robbins, Warren M., and Nancy Ingram Nooter. <em>African Art in American Collections, Survey 1989</em>. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 202-203, fig. 517
citation
Webb, Virginia-Lee, and Walker Evans. <em>Perfect Documents: Walker Evans and African Art, 1935.</em> New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 22; Reproduced: p. 23, fig. 13, p. 68, no. 18
citation
Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
page_number
Reproduced: cat. 19, p. 68 - 69
citation
Petridis, Constantine. "A World of Great Art for Everyone." In <em>Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display</em>. Kathleen Bickford Berzock and Christa Clarke, 104-121. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 112
citation
Walker, Roslyn A., Martha J. Ehrlich, Christraud M. Geary, M. D. McLeod, and Doran H. Ross. The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. Dallas : Dallas Museum of Art, 2018.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 29; Reproduced: p. 95, cat. 42
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:01:35.628000
sourceId
115161
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Gold
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
f3dbb3c09e0dda8e