Object Details
- Label Text
- Kente is the name given to the narrow strip, patterned cloth created by professional weavers among the Asante peoples of Ghana and the Ewe peoples of Ghana and Togo. This Asante man's wrapper is woven completely of commercially made and dyed silk in the aboromasu makowa pattern. The alternating plain green areas feature a small lozenge motif named makowa (little pepper), a pattern once worn by minor chiefs. The border designs, common to many Asante kente patterns, include the tiny alternating blocks of red and yellow that form wotoa (snail shell); the multicolored horizontal stripes of babadua, a segmented bamboo-like plant; and the vertical zigzags of nkyimkyim (to turn). Interpretations of the weft designs reference the qualities of power, endurance, growth and balance.
- Description
- Sixteen strips form a green silk cloth with alternating strip blocks of floating center diamond shaped inlay and strip blocks of fine inlay patterns.
- Provenance
- Venice and Alastair Lamb, England, purchased in Bonwire, Ghana, 1971 to 1983
- Exhibition History
- Objects of Power and Identity, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (room 10 textile rotation)
- Patterns of Life: West African Strip-Weaving Traditions, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 28, 1987-February 29, 1988
- Published References
- Gilfoy, Peggy. 1987. Patterns of Life: West African Strip Weaving Traditions. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 84, no. 32.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Asante artist
- Date
- Early to mid-20th century
- Credit Line
- National Museum of African Art, National Museum of Natural History, purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 1983-85, EJ10571
- Medium
- Silk, synthetic dye
- Dimensions
- H x W: 238.8 x 136 cm (94 x 53 9/16 in.)
- Type
- Textile and Fiber Arts
