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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 life force (<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 a 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
115162
label
Knife-sheath tip (sika boha)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
115162
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 life force (<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 a 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
Q80008267
genreSpecific
Arms and Armor
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 6.4 x 2.1 cm (2 1/2 x 13/16 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante Empire/Kingdom, Kumasi or probably Kumasi, member of the goldsmiths' guild
accession
1935.309
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: 6.4 x 2.1 cm (2 1/2 x 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1935.309
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
This chape would have been secured to the very tip of a knife sheath, modeled after European style sheaths.
citations
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
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
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
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
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, 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
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
Robbins, Warren M., and Nancy Ingram Nooter. <em>African Art in American Collections, Survey 1989.</em> Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.
page_number
Reproduced and mentioned: p. 202-203, fig 516
citation
Walker, Roslyn A., Martha J. Ehrlich, Christraud M. Geary, M. D. McLeod, and Doran H. Ross. <em>The Power of Gold: Asante Royal Regalia from Ghana. </em>Yale University Press, New Haven and London. Dallas : Dallas Museum of Art, 2018.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 95, cat. 43
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:01:36.741000
sourceId
115162
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Gold
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
fe976a4f2ae8e365