Ashanti Board Game Grouping with 7 Participants

Seven figures, one table, and no one is saying who is winning.

Ashanti metalworkers of Ghana, West Africa, cast this group of seven players in bronze in the 20th century. Akan peoples are widely associated with lost-wax brass and bronze casting, and board games such as mancala-type contests are popular across West Africa. Here the figures sit and crouch around a central post on an eight-sided base, their arms linked by thin cast bars. A round, scalloped parasol shades one corner. The surface is dark and even, with a warm brown rub on the high points.

About five inches tall. A tiny tournament for a bookshelf, and the stakes remain delightfully unclear.