Asante Spider: A rare African sword ornament found on Ghana’s Gold Coast that later helped save a Texas man’s life.

The Asante Empire (also known as the Ashanti Empire) ruled West Africa’s Gold Coast in present-day Ghana for two centuries (1701-1901). One of the most powerful symbols of the Asante rulers was the ceremonial sword, often adorned with cast gold ornaments in the shape of animals. This unique spider ornament belonged to Kwaku Dua II, one of the last Asante kings.

The Asante spider figurine was made from an alloy of gold, copper and silver, according to the Dallas Museum of Art, which purchased the item from a Texas family in 2014. The spider measures 4 by 2.9 inches (10.2 by 7.3 centimeters) and may have once been attached to an Asante ceremonial sword. The stone is believed to have been taken from Ghana in the late 19th century, along with hundreds of other royal gold objects, during the Anglo-Ashanti Wars, when Britain was expanding its control over the Gold Coast.

In 1884, the British Governor-General of the Gold Coast, Sir Samuel Lowe, received a visit from Bosomulu, the Chief Spokesman of the Asante Royal Palace in Kumasi, the imperial capital. During a state visit, Bosomul presented Low with a golden spider as a token of friendship from King Kwaku Dua II. Roslyn Walker, a curator at the Dallas Museum of Art who studies the history of spiders, said Bosoml said the spider was a symbol of wisdom and that only kings were allowed to wear a spider emblem on their swords.

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However, as it was illegal for British officials to accept gifts, Lowe decided to return the Golden Spider to the King and sent it back to Kumasi with British envoy Robert Lowe Brandon-Kirby. It’s unclear how Brandon Kirby came into possession of the Golden Spider, but he brought it to the United States, where he teamed up with a Scotsman named James Cree to purchase land in the Southwest. And it infuriated local residents who found Brandon-Kirby incredibly arrogant and disrespectful.

According to a family story told by Charles Cree, Walker said, “BK became unpopular with the local population. When word got to him that a lynch mob were going to kill him, he immediately sold him to his grandfather for a bargain price.” [James]and allowed it to be smuggled out of the country in pickle barrels. ” The golden spider was passed down through generations of the Cree family until it was purchased by the Dallas Museum of Art.

According to Walker, this royal Asante spider figurine is well-traveled and one-of-a-kind, and “there is no other minted gold spider in existence.” [Asante] Collection so far. ”

For more amazing archaeological discoveries, check out our Astonishing Artifacts archive.