Asante officials wearing large amulets, Kumasi, Ghana

The photograph depicts Officials wearing large amulets, in the court of Asantehene Otomfuo Nana Opoku Ware II, on the occasion of the state visit of the Ya Na, paramount chief of Dagomba, Northern Region, Ghana. "A royal official at the Asantehene's court in kumasi wears on his head a large rectangular amulet covered with a sheet of richly embossed gold, probably containing powders or other substances reputed to have magical protective powers, or sheets of paper covered with Arabic script." [Timothy F. Garrard, 1989: Gold of Africa, Prestel]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.