Sankofa

Rainy day so only a short walk and not much to shoot today. A quick raid through my ‘stuff’ cupboard and pulled out this tiny brass or bronze sculpture (about 1.5” tall) in the form of a Sankofa bird – a bird looking backwards.

Since the fourteenth century, the Akan engaged in extensive trade with both the Portuguese and Spanish along the west coast of Africa, which subsequently came to be known as the "Gold Coast" (today’s Ghana), and this Sankofa bird is a gold weight used by traders to weigh gold dust. Mine (I have 3 different birds) are probably 18th/19th century).

A great deal of importance is placed on verbal eloquence and the artful interpretation of proverbs in expression and the Sankofa image is derived from the Akan proverb that states, "there is nothing wrong with learning from hindsight”, indicating the importance of history and of learning from the past or past mistakes.

More info on the British Museum website.