Ring: Wisdom Knot

20th century

Asante instill meanings in what can seem to be mundane objects: the forms of peanuts, grubs, porcupines, knots and seed pods appear in golden splendor. Proverbs behind the rings suggest the wisdom in the ordinary.

A bulbous twisting form is best known as the wisdom knot: "When the thread gets tangled, use both hands to untie it," meaning even the wise man needs another's advice to solve a problem.

Gold

2 1/4 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/4 in. (5.7 x 4.2 x 3.2 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.399

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 80-81, reproduced pl. 43.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Lessons from the Institute of Empathy, Mar. 31, 2018 - ongoing.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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