Gold-Plated Objects.
The Baule people from Ghana use several different items to indicate their leaders and rulers but what makes them unique is that they are all gold or like most items, cast in gold. Gold is connected with rank, as is in most cultures. The more gold you adorned, the more power and leadership you have. One such way to cast these is called a wax-casting process. Items would be carved from wood and then covered in gold. Often, these items would include staves, swords, jewelry and fly whisks. Figures and animals can also be incorporated either by etching them into the gold or by carving them first and then covering them in gold. Patterns that are carved into the gold are often just straight lines and very ornamental, however, it is unsure if these have meaning to them.[1]
Africa, Ivory Coast, Baule, Jewelry: Face in Crescent, before 1951, cast gold, 7cm x 7.4cm, (The Cleveland Museum of Art Collection)
[1] Douglas Fraser, "The Symbols of Ashanti Kingship," African Art & Leadership, ed. Douglas Fraser and Herbert M. Cole (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1972), 197.
Africa, Ivory Coast, Baule, Jewelry: Face in Crescent, before 1951, cast gold, 7cm x 7.4cm, (The Cleveland Museum of Art Collection)
[1] Douglas Fraser, "The Symbols of Ashanti Kingship," African Art & Leadership, ed. Douglas Fraser and Herbert M. Cole (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1972), 197.
