Inspite of a very rich carving and casting tradition, the Ashanti have no face-covering masks. Still, sometimes very small brass maskoids of human figures or other popular themes were used for weighing gold, and commemorative brass masks were formally made. The Ashanti also believed in the divine power of the “golden stool”. Stools were thrones and to be enstooled was to be recognized as a chief or a king. Found in the treasury of Kofi Karikari, King of the Ashanti kingdom (1867-1874) and believed to have been hung on the king’s stool, the only brass mask that has survived represents the head of a defeated chief. As this replica shows, the mouth is clamped down with ‘sepors’–sharp knife-like instruments which pierced through the tongue to prevent the vanquished from uttering curses when beheaded.