Ashanti Bronze Gold Weight

A square plaque, a cross, and four small spirals standing guard.

Ashanti casters of Ghana, West Africa, made this gold weight in bronze, and the record places it in the 19th century or earlier. Akan weights were used to measure gold dust, and geometric examples often carry abstract patterns. This one is a flat panel with a raised cross of twisted rope, a spiral at its center and a quarter-circle coil in each corner. The bronze is dark and slightly rubbed, with soft edges.

About two inches square. Small enough to pocket, serious enough to anchor a stack of papers.