Subject: warrior

Culture: Asante/Ashanti

Setting: Asante empire, 1806-1902

Object: jewelry

Kimbell Art Museum > The Language of Beauty in African Art *

"Pectoral Disk (Akrafokonmu) Possibly 19th century Asante; Ghana Gold ...

The Asante name for hammered gold pectorals like this example, akrafokonmu,

refers to their primary ownership by young officials charged with the purification of the chief's soul.

These young men, known as akrafo, would typically wear them as charms against evil,

suspended by a white cord of pineapple fiber over the chest.

But they could also be part of the insignia of other title holders,

such as royal messengers, linguists, war leaders, and sub chiefs,

and occasionally they were attached to a cap or inserted into the hair."

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