General Works
Ayisi, Eric O.,
An Introduction to the Study of African Culture.
London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1979. 125 pages.
An excellent introductory volume at a level suitable for students. Good chapters on The Family, Household and Lineage, Sex and Marriage, and Festivals.
Batiss, Walter W. (and others),
The Art of Africa.
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Shuter and Shooter, 1958. 140 pages. Illustrated.
Includes a number of Ashanti figures (pages 35-46), including a fertility fetish figure. Includes a helpful bibliography, including an article entitled, “Which Way to See African Sculpture,” by Eleanor Munro (p.139).
Delange, Jacqueline,
The Art and Peoples of Black Africa.
New York: E. P. Dutton, 1967.
Chapter 6, pages 69-79 has excellent information on Ashanti sculpture, pottery and gold work; also a helpful section on Akuaba dolls. Eight pages of photographs.
Gillon, Werner,
A Short History of African Art.
New York: Viking Press, 1984.
Chapter 9, pages 137-163 contains information on Ashanti clothing, vessels and jewelry; also a brief Ashanti history.
Laude, Jean,
The Arts of Black Africa.
Berkely: University of California Press, 1971.
Good general background, full of illustrations.
Mount, Marshall W.,
African Art, The Years Since 1920.
Bloomington: The Indiana University Press, 1974. 236 pages.
The section on Ashanti art has a discussion of female fertility figures and a photograph on page 14.
Willett, Frank,
African Art, An Introduction.
New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971.
An illustrated work which explains standards and use of African art and makes a strong independent argument for West African origins. Illustrations of Akuaba dolls on pages 112 and 114.
Student Bibliography
Dei-Anang, Michael and Yaw Warren,
Ghana Glory: Poems on Ghana and Ghanian Life.
London: Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1965. 69 pages.
A collection of twenty-two poems by Africans about their native land and people. The poems entitled “Ghana,” “Ghana Will Never Die” and “Akosombo” are particularly inspiring.
Sarpong, Peter,
Ghana in Retrospect: Some Aspects of Ghanaian Culture.
Tema, Ghana: The Ghana Publishing Company, 1974. 134 pages.
An excellent readable narrative about Ghanaian (especially Ashanti) beliefs and customs. Sections are short and include chapters on God, Funerals, Ancestors, Witchcraft, Moral Values, Ceremonies and Myths.
Tufuo, J.W., and E.E. Donkor,
Ashantis of Ghana: People with a Soul.
Accra, Ghana: Anowuo Educational Publications, 1969. 127 pages.
This little paperback is a goldmine of information about the Ashanti, written with the high school student in mind. An invaluable source in understanding family life and customs, authored by an Ashanti historian and an English anthropologist.
Teacher Bibliography
Antubam, Kofi,
Ghana’s Heritage of Culture.
Leipzig: Koeler and Amelang, 1963. 222 pages.
Written by a member of the Ghana Arts Council, and containing 16 pages of high quality illustrations, this is a fascinating resource for teachers. Full of stories, myths, and proverbs, it brings Ashanti cultural history up to modern times.
Budu-Acquah, K.,
Ghana, The Morning After.
London: Goodwin Press, Ltd., 1975.
A history of the people of Ghana since the fifteenth century, and the Ashanti, in particular, are featured in chapter three. A must for anyone interested in Ghana as a national state.
Rattray, R.S.,
Ashanti.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923. 348 pages.
An anthropological study of the Ashanti, which has an excellent chapter on Matrilineal descent (pp. 77-86); with some helpful photos and illustrations.
Rattray, R.S.,
Religion and Art in Ashanti.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979. 414 pages.
A reprint of his definitive work done in 1927. Contains chapters on Birth, Puberty, Marriage, and Wood-carving. Includes an excellent article entitled, “The Aesthetic of Ashanti,” which discusses the “living” nature of Ashanti Art.
Wilks, Ivor,
Asante in the Nineteenth Century.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
More of an historical work, contains a helpful bibliography, pages 160-166.