A bronze vessel - Akan - Ghana

An Akan copper aloy vessel, Ghana, collected in the region of Kumasi, a leopard with an antelope in his snout, surmounted by a rounded vessel, decorated with crocodiles, inside of the lid is an leopard mother feeding her young with prey; fine aged patina with a high degree on zink, which gives the sculpture a golden appearance, a fine aged patina verifyes a longlasting ritual use.

Akan copper-alloy vessels, produced among Akan-speaking peoples of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, form a lesser-known but significant corpus of metalwork distinct from the better-known gold regalia. They were generally cast using the lost-wax technique, the same process employed for the production of gold weights, and were made from brass or bronze imported through long-standing trade with European merchants since the fifteenth century.

These vessels, which include bowls, basins, and sometimes anthropomorphic or zoomorphic containers, served primarily in ritual and courtly contexts. Within royal and chiefly settings they held libations, palm wine, or offerings during ceremonies dedicated to ancestors or deities. Their metallic substance was symbolically associated with permanence, prestige, and the luminous qualities of gold, while the copper alloy itself embodied ideas of transformation and vitality connected with the sun and blood.

Stylistically, many Akan vessels bear relief ornament or chased surface patterns echoing textile designs and motifs from gold-weight iconography. A few surviving examples feature figural decoration—human heads, animals, or symbolic forms—suggesting that they were made for elite patrons or used in sacred shrines.

The production centres were probably located in the major gold-working towns such as Bono Manso, Begho, and later Kumasi. These workshops were closely related to the state systems of the Asante and the earlier Akan polities.

Comparable brass and bronze vessels are preserved in collections such as the British Museum, the Musée du quai Branly, and the National Museum of Ghana. Scholars such as D. A. Agyeman, F. Willett, and T. E. S. Mensah have linked them to broader Akan metallurgy and to ritual economies of value where metals were mediators between the living and the ancestors.

See: F. Willett, African Art: An Introduction (Oxford 1971); T. E. S. Mensah, Akan Metal Technology (Accra 1983); D. A. Agyeman, “Brass Casting and Ritual among the Akan,” Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana 9 (1968).

CAB21714

"I believe that the import of all art objects from Africa—whether copies or originals—should be prohibited to protect Africa." Quote: Prof. Dr. Viola König, former director of the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, now HUMBOLDTFORUM

Legal Framework

Under the 1970 UNESCO Convention in combination with the Kulturgutschutz Gesetz (KGSG) any claim for the restitution of cultural property becomes time-barred three years after the competent authorities of the State of origin obtain knowledge of the object’s location and the identity of its possessor.

All bronzes and terracotta items offered have been publicly exhibited in Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery since 2001. Organisations such as DIGITAL BENIN and academic institutions such as the Technical University of Berlin, which have been intensively involved in restitution-reseaches (translocation-project) over the past seven years, are aware of our work, have inspected large parts of our collection and have visited us in our dependance in Lomé, Togo, among other places, to learn about the international Art trade on site. Furthermore, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) in Abuja, Nigeria, has been informed about our collection. In no case in the past have there been restitution claims against private institutions such as the Wolfgang Jaenicke Gallery

Our Gallery addresses these structural challenges through a policy of maximum transparency and documentation. Should any questions or uncertainties arise, we invite you to contact us. Each matter will be reviewed diligently using all available resources.