Asante Umbrella Finial
Asante Umbrella finial (ntuatire). Wood covered with gold foil. 25cm The structure represents the war horn (akoben). It is a widespread umbrella finial motif that is also used in gold weights and headdresses.
Published: Lüthi, Werner & David, Jean (2009). Exhibition catalog: Helvetic Gold Museum Burgdorf. Gold in the art of West Africa. Zurich: Galerie Walu, p. 12.
Exhibited: 2009: Helvetic Gold Museum Burgdorf.
A print from a 1st edition of Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, with a Statistical Account of that Kingdom, 1819. This illustration shows Ashanti umbrellas in procession with various finials including the war horn finial.
An English wood engraving, 1874 of a state umbrella taken from (Coomassie) Kumasi during the Ashantee war. Note the finial of the segmented cane babadua which is usually associated with queen mothers, strength, and resilience. The same segmented cane design can be seen below the war horn image on the example in the collection.