Kumasi Sawfish Brass Hook

Lost-wax casting was developed by the Asante people in Ghana to make objects for gold transactions, such as weights and canisters. Like their forefathers, Ghana’s brass casters begin the process of making metal articles by sculpting in beeswax. The wax form is then painted with a paste of fine charcoal and water and covered in a mold of coarse palm fibers and clay. This porous mixture permits the necessary release of hot air and gases as the mold is baked, giving the final product a smooth finish. Finally, the wax is poured out and replaced by molten recycled brass. Each mold can only be used once, meaning that each piece is individually hand sculpted. The finished brass pieces are polished with palm nut fibers and sand over several days.

All Osei-Duro brass work is created by with traditional casters in the Asante region of Ghana.

Sawfish are some of the largest sharks in the world, and live in both salt and fresh water. They have a rich cultural history in West Africa, where they are associated with prosperity and leadership. They feature prominently on the shared West African currency; the CFA. Sawfish are also currently the most endangered fish in the sea, and although fishermen have living memory of rivers full of them, they are now sadly almost gone from the region. Great research on Sawfish is being done now by the Save Our Seas Foundation if you’d like to know more about their status.