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WEIGHTS OF OBJECTS INDICATING POWER |
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The paraphernalia of government and religion, as well as war and ceremonial,
are frequently cast as weights, although less frequently than purely geometric
designs. Important items are stools (a symbol of royalty), war items such as drums and horns,
guns and long knives, and ceremonial objects such as fly-whisks.
Earlier this century Capt. R.S. Rattray made a large number of photographs
of the Ashanti, including stools and ceremonies surrounding them,
, and illustrated them in his Ashanti. The following
show the consecration and adoration of a princess' silver stool:
Drums were also important objects, and Rattray illustrates them in several shapes and sizes:
