Ghana
Ashanti

Bronze
ca. Early-Mid 20th century
Height: 9.5 inches
Idiophone – Struck Directly – Bell

The Ashanti is a cultural group within the Akan, a meta-ethnicity society living in the southern regions of present-day Ghana and Ivory Coast in West Africa.  The are prolific in their production of objects known as “gold weights”, bronze sculptures & various metal boxes. This rare bronze bell, created by the lost-was process involves creating a model in wax. Once completed, wax rods are attached to it and the model is encased in layers of clay. The object is then heated and the melted wax runs out through the channels or wax rods. Molten metal is then poured into the hollow mold, created after the wax was lost. Once the metal cools and hardens, the clay mold is broken and the piece has been created. This Akan bronze figural bell was part of the personal collection of Marc Matz, a prominent Cambridge, Massachusetts antiques dealer for over thirty years. He was a yearly exhibitor at the prestigious New York Winter Antiques Show, as well as Boston’s Ellis Memorial.