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| < RETURN TO AFRICAN ART |
Ashante Bronze Kuduo - SP.068 The Asante empire was founded in the early 17th century under the rule of the first king, Osei Tutu. According to legend, a golden stool descended from heaven and into the lap of Osei Tutu. The stoll is believed to house the spirit of the Asante people just as it is believed that an individuals stool houses his spirit after death. The Asante are situated in Southern Ghana, numbering about one and a half million people. The Asante were a dominant power in Ghana, and their early economic structure of the Asante was based on trade of gold and slaves to the Mande and Hausa traders as well as the Europeans in the coastal regions. Acting as middlemen in the slave trade, the Asante were given guns and luxury goods strengthening them as a group. The Asante developed remarkably diverse kuduo containers cast of copper alloys. Kuduo were used in many ways. They held gold dust and other valuables, but could also be found in important political and ritual contexts. Some kuduo were buried with their owners, while others were kept in the palace shrine rooms that housed the ancestral stools of deceased state leaders. Life and the afterlife, the present and the past, were enhanced and made more meaningful by the presence of these elegant prestige vessels. - (SP.068) |
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