Ashanti Gold Weight Box

A small bronze strongbox, built for something that weighed almost nothing.

Ashanti metalworkers of Ghana, West Africa, cast this lidded box in bronze in the 19th century. Boxes of this kind are associated with the gold trade, where dust was measured against small cast weights and kept close at hand. The lid rises in a ridged, gabled shape, and each side carries stylized motifs set in raised panels. It stands on four short feet. The surface is dark and greenish, with paler deposits gathered in the recesses.

About two inches tall and four inches square. Put your cufflinks in it and they will feel audited.