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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
115164
label
Knife Handle Cover
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
115164
contentType
object
title
Knife Handle Cover
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
genreSpecific
Arms and Armor
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 4.3 cm (1 11/16 in.)
cul
Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante Empire/Kingdom, Kumasi or probably Kumasi, member of the goldsmiths' guild
accession
1935.311
Source extras
tec
Gold
tombstone
Knife Handle Cover, 1800s. Africa, West Africa, Ghana, Asante Empire/Kingdom, Kumasi or probably Kumasi, member of the goldsmiths' guild. Gold; overall: 4.3 cm (1 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1935.311
collection
African Art
didYouKnow
Only members of the goldsmiths' guild, who claimed descent from the first goldsmith Fusu Kwabi, could make gold ornaments for the royals and their entourage.
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: pp. 202-203, fig. 514
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
Mentioned: p. 29; reproduced: p. 95, cat. 42
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:01:36.778000
sourceId
115164
dept
African Art
coll
African Art
med
Gold
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
b69744ed9bdf5fc6