The Niger Bend | A Selection of Our Best Items |
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$10.00 3 more heterosexual goldweights
item #282Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the photo to see 2 more couples enjoying themselves. | $3500.00 Abotire crown of gold leaf pieces
item #430Ghana - Ashanti This style of Ashanti crown is flexible, like a hat, but is covered with gold leaf-covered wooden elements. Its name in the Akan language is abotire. This is the oldest, most traditional of crown styles, worn by all levels of Ashanti royalty. |
$3500.00 Abotire crown of gold leaf pieces
item #950Ivory Coast - Ashanti This style of Ashanti crown is flexible, like a hat, but is covered with gold leaf-covered wooden elements. Its name in the Akan language is abotire. This is the oldest, most traditional of crown styles, worn by all levels of Ashanti royalty. The pendant is gold leaf-covered wood, $975, available elsewhere on this page. | $3000.00 Bird top linguist staff
item #511Ghana - Ashanti This 64 1/2" tall staff is refered by the Ashanti as a "linguist staff". He who bears it is the personal spokesman of the Asantehene, the King of the Ashanti people. Please click on the photo to see the full staff as well as a closeup of the staff. In addition to the top ornament the staff is composed of 3 sections. |
$95.00 Brass equestrian figure
item #344Ghana - Ashanti 2 3/4" tall | $1500.00 Crocodile chameleon stool
item #835Ghana - Ashanti 20 1/2 x 11 7/8 x 14 3/4" tall |
$1500.00 Crocodile stool
item #822Ghana - Ashanti 20 1/4 x 10 1/2 x 14 1/4" tall | $4600.00 Double sphere top sword power symbols
item #437Ghana - Ashanti This gold top power symbol is covered with hammered sheets of gold, heavier than common gold leaf. Please click on the photo for a photo of another, similar power symbol with a silver top and the full silver top piece. In silver the price is $3500. |
$750.00 Eagle on turtle stool
item #824Ghana - Ashanti 20 x 10 x 16" tall | $7500.00 Eagle top power symbol
item #435Ghana - Ashanti The name in the Akan language for these swords is "afenatena" which literally means "long sword". They do not function as swords. In fact even functional swords went out of use 300 years ago with the advent of guns. The focus of attention of these iron highly decorated swords are the gold leaf-covered wood tops, representing, in general terms, Ashanti proverbs pertaining to the power and role of the king in Ashanti society. These ceremonial swords were actually carried in ceremonial processions and are recognized as substitutes for the actual swords of state which are kept in the royal palace. The swords of state are second only to the royal stools in significance as symbols of the source of the power the Ashanti king inherits. The actual significance of each sword depends on the way it is used in specific ceremonies, including harvest, installation of a king, purification of the sould of the king, etc. These same swords are also carried by representatives of the king as symbols of his authority when they have been sent to carry out the business of the king. Please click on the photo to see the full piece. |
$600.00 Elephant stool
item #778Ghana - Ashanti length 16 1/4", height 12" Please click on the image to view the other side of this fine old stool. | $750.00 Elephant stool
item #806Ghana - Ashanti 18 x 10 x 12 1/2" tall |
$6000.00 Extraordinary large crocodile stool
item #369Ghana - Ashanti 23 1/2 x 12 x 20". This is an exceptional Ashanti stool: exceptional in size, exceptional in quality, exceptional in age, exceptional in design. | $10.00 Fifth set of loving couple goldweights
item #479Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to see the other two couples in this set. |
$10.00 Fourth set of loving couple goldweights
item #478Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to see the other two couples in this set. | $2500.00 Full size, center-opening Akan door
item #199Ghana - Ashanti |
$10.00 Gay couples in brass goldweights
item #469Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to see 2 more gay couples. | $15.00 Gay menage a trois goldweight
item #472Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to see another view of this interesting variation of the gay themed goldweights. |
$1950.00 gold beads
item #434Ghana - Ashanti Each of these solid gold beads is the same price. The bead on the left is SOLD. | $925.00 Gold leaf covered armband
item #952Ivory Coast - Ashanti 4 3/8" long |
$925.00 Gold leaf covered armband
item #953Ivory Coast - Ashanti 5 3/16 x 4" | $925.00 Gold leaf covered armband
item #954Ivory Coast - Ashanti Each round piece measures 2 5/8 x 2 3/8" |
$925.00 Gold leaf covered armband
item #955Ivory Coast - Ashanti 4 9/16 x 3 3/4" pendant | $925.00 Gold leaf covered armband
item #956Ivory Coast - Ashanti Each pendant is 4 7/8" long |
$975.00 Gold leaf covered necklace
item #433Ghana - Ashanti The pendant is 4 13/16 x 5". The necklace is 14 3/8". | $3750.00 Gold leaf covered wooden crown
item #429Ghana - Ashanti These crowns are magnificent examples of the technique the Ashanti have devised to stretch their gold and use it as effectively and economically as possible. Gold is highly valued as symbolic of royal power and is used as widely as possible in adorning royal accessories, especially crowns. Please click on the photo to see 2 more views of this indispensable object of royal society in Ghana. |
$3750.00 Gold leaf covered wooden crown
item #745Ghana - Ashanti These crowns are magnificent examples of the technique the Ashanti have devised to stretch their gold and use it as effectively and economically as possible. Gold is highly valued as symbolic of royal power and is used as widely as possible in adorning royal accessories, especially crowns. Please click on the photo to see 2 more views of this indispensable object of royal society in Ghana. | $975.00 Gold necklace
item #456Ghana - Ashanti This is a less voluminous and lighter gold necklace, possibly worn by younger girls. Please click on the image for 2 more gold necklaces, the first of which is priced at $3,700, the second at $5,600. |
$7500.00 Gold necklace with pendant
item #453Ghana - Ashanti This is an exceptionally beautiful gold chain with an extraordinarily fine heart shape pendant. The shape of this pendant, though well known in the West as a symbol of love, is actually not considered to be a heart at all in Ashanti tradition. Indeed the real human heart is not shaped like this at all. The Ashanti devised this shape as a reference to the san ko fa bird whose head is turned 180 degrees around to look behind it. That bird is the symbol of a proverb which signifies, loosely interpreted, that we must learn by looking to our past. Please click on the image to see 2 more beautiful gold necklaces, these priced at $5,600 each. | $3000.00 Gold pendant
item #438Ghana - Ashanti |
$5600.00 Gold royal chain necklace
item #427Ghana - Ashanti The name in the Akan language for these necklaces is "suman" which literally means "charm". The pendants worn on these chains have specific protective powers depending on the design of those pendants. When Ashanti royalty appear in public on ceremonial occasions they always wear quantities of gold jewelry, including handmade chains of many designs. | $5600.00 Gold royal necklace
item #428Ghana - Ashanti Please click on this photo to see another beautiful Ashanti royal gold necklace. Both are the same price. |
$2625.00 Gold royal rings
item #426Ghana - Ashanti All the rings in this photo are the same price except the one on the far right which is $925. Please click on the photo to see 2 more sets of rings. All are the same price in the second and third photos. Please note that the top ring in each of those two photos have been sold. Ashanti gold is generally low carat (below 14 carats) but are authentic, having been made for and worn by members of the Ashanti royal family and entourage. Most date to 1950 to 1960. | $3750.00 Gold watch bracelet
item #431Ghana - Ashanti This bracelet looks like a watch but only tells the time twice a day. There is no movement in it. In fact, the Ashanti, like many Africans, value watches more as jewelry than as timepieces. This one is pure jewelry, conforming to the Ashanti love of gold and deference to modern society at the same time. |
$10.00 Goldweight couple as pendant
item #480Ghana - Ashanti This goldweight features a loop for hanging the weight as a pendant. Please click on the image to see another position being enjoyed as a pendant, as well as one more goldweight in the above series, without a pendant loop. | $25.00 Goldweights - fifth set of photos
item #509Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to view two more sets of goldweights, at the same price, $25 each. |
$50.00 Goldweights - fourth set of photos
item #508Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to view two more groups of goldweights. The weights in the second set are $25 each. Those in the third set are $50 each. | $50.00 Goldweights - third set of photos
item #507Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to view two more photos. The second photo is another view of these same weights, showing their sizes. The third is a different set of weights. |
$3750.00 Heavy silver bracelet
item #432Ghana - Ashanti Although not gold, this bracelet is made in the style of the gold bracelets the Ashanti prefer. This bracelet, in solid metal, would be astronomical in price in solid gold. In the same way that the Ashanti use gold leaf-covered wood to replace solid gold, they may also make items in silver to represent an item traditionally made in gold. | $10.00 Heterosexual representative goldweights
item #281Ghana - Ashanti There are as many of these as the Kama Sutra has positions but we only have the 12 pictured here in stock. All are the same price and about the same size, 2 x 1 x 1/2". Please click on this photo to see 2 other positions. |
$95.00 Large gold dust spoons
item #440Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the photo to view another set of large gold dust spoons in another style. | $2500.00 Large heavy old lion stool
item #820Ghana - Ashanti 22 3/4 x 12 x 19 1/2" tall |
$6000.00 Largest old leopard stool
item #816Ghana - Ashanti 23 x 15 x 21" tall. This is an exceptional, old stool that almost certainly would have been used only by a member of the Ashanti royal family. | $900.00 Lion stool
item #780Ghana - Ashanti 24 x 18 1/2". Please click on the image for another view of this old, authentic stool. |
$750.00 Lion stool
item #807Ghana - Ashanti 19 1/4 x 8 1/2 x 11" tall | $7500.00 Lion top sword power symbol
item #436Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the photo to see the full piece. |
$950.00 Man of Africa
item #446Ghana - Ashanti This is an extraordinary carved wood map of Africa featuring the likeness of the first president and Father of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. This was undoubtedly carved as an hommage to him sometime around the time of Ghanaian independence which occured in 1957. The words "Man of Africa" are etched to the left of the head and the words "Dr. Kwame Nkrumah" are etched in the base of the piece though they have been largely worn away over the years. The height is 31 1/2" and the width from the westernmost tip to the easternmost tip of the continent is 23 1/2". | $1800.00 Man on lion stool
item #821Ghana - Ashanti 19 1/2 x 10 7/8 x 16 3/4" tall |
$3500.00 Old Ashanti bird stool
item #72Ghana - Ashanti | $50.00 Old brass gold dust spoons
item #439Ghana - Ashanti These are all old brass spoons which were used for manipulating gold dust in commercial transactions. Please click on this photo to see another set of old brass spoons. Most of the spoons are $50. The exceptions are as follows: the one in the lower left of this photo is $95. The one just above that one is $30. The smallest one in the top of the same photo is $25. In the second photo the smallest spoon in the top right of that photo is $30. |
$450.00 Old comb, mounted
item #233Ghana - Ashanti Overall mounted height 14 1/2". This comb incorporates, on the top, 2 opposed sankofa birds as well as an Ashanti stool. | $750.00 Old crocodile stool
item #823Ghana - Ashanti 19 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 15 1/4" tall |
$1500.00 Parrot on turtle stool
item #810Ghana - Ashanti 20 x 11 3/4 x 16" tall | $695.00 Seated woman
item #394Ghana - Ashanti 33 1/4" tall. This is an unusually nice figure featuring her carved and painted kente cloth dress. |
$75.00 Second group of geometric goldweights
item #506Ghana - Ashanti Please click on the image to see two more sets of goldweights. All of the goldweights in the second and third sets are priced at $50 each. | $6000.00 Set of 3 ceremonial iron swords
item #452Ghana - Ashanti This is a beautiful matched set of 3 ceremonial iron sword power symbols, each topped with a wooden handle covered with gold leaf. These symbols always accompany the Asantehene, the king of the Ashanti, when he appears ceremonially in public. Please see the eagle power symbol above for a more complete explanation. Please click on the image to view the other 2 power symbols. |
$3750.00 Silver necklace
item #454Ghana - Ashanti Of course, this is not gold but it is Ashanti. Silver necklaces are commonly worn by the queen mother. I regret I could not enlist her to pose for these photos. Please click on the photo to see 2 other versions of this genuine, old silver Ashanti necklace. | $1000.00 Snail stool
item #808Ghana - Ashanti 19 x 10 x 12 3/4" tall |
$12000.00 Soul priest pectoral disc
item #455Ghana - Ashanti The name in the Akan language for this piece is "akrafokonmu" where "akra" means "soul", "fo" means "people" and "konmu" means, loosely, "around the neck". It is worn on the chest like a pendant and is the badge of identity of a soul priest. One of his primary roles is to preside over the ceremony in which the soul of the king is purified. The shape is called "nyame" which means both "sun" and "God". It measures 4 1/2" in diameter. | $10.00 Third set of loving couple goldweights
item #335Ghana - Ashanti To see the next 2 couples please click on the image. |
$975.00 Triangle pendant necklace
item #951Ivory Coast - Ashanti | $6000.00 XL Atompan
item #526Ghana - Ashanti This fantastic genuine old used ceremonial drum is quite rare. It measures 41" tall. This is the most beautiful example of such a drum I have ever found. Please note the black and white photo of two boys attached to the drum in a wooden frame carved as part of the drum. Painted on the drum in the center of the 4 central breast is the inscription, "by Play Boy Mankessim". The drum is adorned with tribal symbols evoking proverbs, each of which is meant to impart a lesson to the people of the community. Please click on the image for a closeup and another view of this extraordinary object. |
text and images copyright 2010 Niger Bend