On view
Disk pendant or pectoral badge (akrafokɔnmu),
late 19th century, before 1891
This gold akrafokɔnmu, or “soul washer’s badge,” adorned the chest of individuals said to represent the Asante chief’s soul. An object of prestige and protection, it features a denkyem (crocodile) motif surrounded by filigree accents. The circular shape recalls spiritual unity while the amphibious emblem epitomizes adaptability. With the arrival of Western medicine and the rise of Christianity in West Africa, the spiritual importance of the akrafokɔnmu waned, but its material preciousness and stylistic complexity endure. In the nineteenth century, as colonial control of West Africa escalated, Asante chiefs offered diplomatic gifts to European invaders. This badge was gifted to Louis-Gustave Binger, the first governor of French Côte d’Ivoire, and stayed in his family until the death of his grandson, the philosopher and critic Roland Barthes. Such consular offerings marked the French invasion, annexation, and exploitation of Akan territory.
Anisa Tavangar, PhD student, Department of Art & Archaeology, Princeton University
Information
late 19th century, before 1891
Africa, Ghana
Africa, Côte d’Ivoire
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1982", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 42, no. 1 (1983): p. 50-70., p. 66
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 29 (illus.)
- "Selected checklist of objects in the collection of African art," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 58, no. 1/2 (1999): p. 77–83., p. 79
