Gold weight in the form of an open-work Asante stool At The British Museum, London

myminifactory

This is a foundry-cast figurative gold-weight, made from brass, in the form of an intricately crafted open-work Asante stool. The British Museum's curator notes that several proverbs are associated with this weight, including: 'When you visit someone else's home and they're sitting on the floor, don't ask for a stool.' 'The tsetse fly sits on the stool!' and 'A stool isn't just a log where two people can sit side by side.' The Golden Stool is the royal throne of the Ashanti people. Legend has it that Okomfo Anokye, the High Priest and one of the founders of the Asante Confederacy, caused the stool to fall from the sky and land on the lap of the first king, Osei Tutu. Traditional seats symbolized leadership, but this seat is believed to house the spirit of the nation - past, present, and future. Many wars have been fought over ownership of the throne. In 1896, King Prempeh I was deported rather than risk losing both the war and the stool. In 1900, Governor Frederick Hodgson demanded to sit on the Golden Stool and ordered a search for it, sparking an armed rebellion known as the War of the Golden Stool. This resulted in Ashanti being annexed by the British Empire but preserved the stool's sanctity. In 1921, African road workers discovered the stool, stripped some gold ornaments, and were taken into custody before being tried according to local custom and sentenced to death. The British intervened and instead banished them, promising not to interfere with the stool. An assurance of non-interference was given by the British, and the stool was brought out of hiding. In 1935, it was used in a ceremony to crown Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II. This object is part of "Scan The World," a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, creating a digital archive of fully printable sculptures for public access. Scan the World is an open-source community effort - if you have interesting items and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how to help. Scanned using Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan).