Pectoral Disk (Akrafokonmu or Awisiado)

Gold ornaments indicate status and wealth among the Asante and other Akan-speaking peoples in coastal and central Ghana. They are worn ostentatiously at public festivals by titleholders, chiefs, and kings. The production of such ornaments declined in 1896, when British colonialists exiled the Asante king Prempeh I, but revived when he returned to Ghana in 1924. The size and artistry of this pectoral disk suggest that it was made after Prempeh I’s restoration to the throne.