Gold Trinkets Worn as Spells
This image shows numerous amulets, bracelets, a gold hatband, a gold horn, a necklace, small and large wooden stools, arm rings, hair combs, scales for weighing gold, cowry shells, an earthen pot, an iron pin and money. Gold objects likely came from the Gold Coast in the Voltaic region. Thomas Astley (d. 1759) was a British bookseller and publisher who never went to Africa. His imagined localities and illustrations of Africa were informed by a library of travel books at his disposal.
Image Title
Gold Trinkets Worn as Spells
RegID
SI-OB-820
Date
1745-1747
Title
Gold Trinkets Worn as Spells
Source
"Plate LXVIII" in Thomas Astley (ed.), A New General Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. 2 (London: Thomas Astley, 1745-1747), facing p. 631.
Language
English
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Voltaic
Reproduced In
Derived from a larger engraving based on the late seventeenth century voyages of Jean Barbot and published in Awnsham Churchill and John Churchill, Collection of Voyages, (London: Printed for Awnsham and John Churchill, 1732).
Researchers
Jerome Handler; Michael Tuite; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
9-Aug-10; 21-Aug-19
Identifier
Astley015