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Abstract

In the Asante kingdom, evidence of the use of metals like gold, silver and brass are actively displayed in all aspects of their socio-cultural lives, be it for beautification and other art forms. There are a lot of beautiful cultural elements encoded in the designs and the production of brass casting at Krofofrom in Asante. However, very little attention has been given to them. The main objective of this article is to appraise selected brass products at Krofofrom in Ashanti. It further goes on to examine the production processes of brass casting at Krofofrom and the aesthetics of the brass products as well. The brass casting in Krofofrom is well known and unique; this is because it embodies a lot of history and the cultural heritage of the people, which is portrayed in visual art forms. These art forms have a lot of aesthetic appeals if analyzed. Descriptive method of qualitative research approach with interviews and observations as instruments were employed. Secondary data was obtained from books, journals and the internet. Contribution/Originality: This study documents the systematic processes used in traditional lost wax casting that is practiced at Krofofrom in Ghana and also comparatively analyses such similar castings done in other countries. The study further analyses the concept behind the craft and the design, interpret these concepts in relation to the philosophy of the people which then can serve as an archival source for future research to best understand African art and not to be judged under the formal principles of design. 1. INTRODUCTION Asantes is believed to be people with very rich culture. Throughout their history since the first millennium AD, there has been evidence of the use of iron and other metals like gold, silver, brass which were actively displayed in all aspects of their socio-cultural lives. They were in the form of tools for domestic purposes, farming, hunting, war and ornaments for beautification purposes (Posnansky [1] as cited in MacEachern [2]). According to Warren [3] in the Akan society of Ghana, metal activities like smelting and casting was first located in areas like Brong Ahafo, Atebubu, Ntonso, Techiman, Bekwai just to mention a few. Casting in brass gained very high prominence after all the Asante states came together to form the Asante kingdom (Rattray [4] as cited in Kissi [5]). The starting point of this craft in the Kingdom of Asante is not really known although according to considerable literature by Rattray, it is believed that the issue of gold weights dates as far back as the 1676. According to Davey [6] and Gyekye [7], Asmah [8] as cited in Asmah [8], Kissi, et al. [9] the art of casting in brass and bronze can however be linked