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Puduo or Kuduo lid and two gold weights, W. Africa
Puduo or Kuduo lid and two gold weights, W. Africa
This object is the lid of a puduo or kuduo (container)from West Africa. There is a bottom part to this vessel but it is missing. Puduos were used for holding gold dust or jewelry and are made using the lost wax casting method.
W. African gold weight
W. African gold weight
The manufacture of and designs on these vessels were similar to that of the gold weights that we also have in our collection.








Learn more about these items by visiting this sites:


 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wax/hd_wax.htm   Background on lost wax technique
 http://www.marshall.edu/akanart/abramo.html   Background on West African gold weights and puduo (containers)
 http://www.marshall.edu/akanart/craftspeople.htm   Shows modern maker of gold weights
 http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/akan.html   Background on gold weights along with images
 http://www.randafricanart.com/Asante_Kuduo_container.html   Excellent background and tons of images of puduo/kuduo and gold weights.
 http://www.marshall.edu/akanart/abrammoo_abramobe.html   Gold weights as proverbs
Get Acrobat Reader  mali_arts_culture.pdf   THis pdf document has several great lesson plans on the trans-sahara gold trade and the role of gold weights.