- Archaeology
The spider-shaped sword ornament was created in Ghana in the 19th century and was passed down in a Texas family for generations.
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Name: Asante spider
What it is: A gold sword ornament
Where it is from: Kumasi, Ghana
When it was made: Late 19th century
In 1884, Sir Samuel Rowe, the British governor of the Gold Coast, was visited by Bosommuru, the chief spokesman of the Asante royal court in Kumasi, the imperial capital. During the state visit, Bosommuru gave Rowe the gold spider as a mark of friendship from Kwaku Dua II. According to Roslyn Walker, a curator at the Dallas Museum of Art who researched the history of the spider, Bosommuru said the spider was a symbol of wisdom and only the king was allowed to wear the spider emblem on his sword.
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But Rowe decided to return the gold spider to the king, as it was illegal for British officials to accept gifts — so he sent it back to Kumasi with a British envoy, Robert Low Brandon-Kirby. It is unclear how Brandon-Kirby ended up owning the gold spider, but he brought it with him to the U.S., where he partnered with a Scot named James Cree to buy land in the Southwest — and incensed the locals, who found Brandon-Kirby to be incredibly pompous and rude.
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Walker noted that, according to a family story told by Charles Cree, "B.K. made himself unpopular among the local population. Word reached him that a lynching party was on the way to kill him, so he quickly sold out at a bargain price to my grandfather [James], and allowed himself to be smuggled out of the country in a pickle barrel." The gold spider was handed down over generations of Cree family members before being purchased by the Dallas Museum of Art.
The well-traveled royal Asante spider ornament is one of a kind, according to Walker, and "no other cast gold spiders have surfaced in [Asante] collections to date."
For more stunning archaeological discoveries, check out our Astonishing Artifacts archives.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter nowContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. TOPICS astonishing artifacts gold
Kristina KillgroveSocial Links NavigationStaff writerKristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.
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