A male Akan gold weight, Ivory Coast / Ghana, in the shape of a leopard, of elongated body, standing on its four legs, the tail curing bakwards to touch the middle of its back, it has a smaller animal in its mouth, beautiful curls pattern his back; touch patina. "For centuries, peoples throughout West Africa, the Sudan, and beyond the Sahara Desert have created precious objects from gold dust obtained in mines controlled by the Akan kingdoms of present-day Ghana. For the Akan peoples, gold not only brought fabulous prosperity through trade but was also considered the earthly counterpart to the sun and the material embodiment of kra, or life force. To better control and regulate the trade in gold, Akan merchants and rulers developed brass weights called abrammuo (sing. mrammuo) that set standard units of measure. While the earliest weights were cast in geometric forms that reflected the gold trade's intimate links to North African Islam, later examples displayed figurative imagery inspired by the great wealth of Akan proverbs. Source: The MET