Object Details
- Label Text
- In West Africa, cloth is made of wool, cotton or silk, or combinations of these materials. Woven on narrow strip looms, they are then hand or machine-sewn together to create large wrappers, cloths or blankets with patterns dyed or woven into the fabric.
- This silk cloth, known as kubi amanpene, demonstrates that a rigid symmetrical pattern is possible without a border. The overall checkerboard design is broken up by the rhythm of numerous geometric patterns between blocks of weft bands and a unique color scheme.
- Description
- Silk wrapper composed of seventeen panels handsewn at the selvedges with alternating checkerboard blocks of dark blue and white, and geometric blocks of dark blue, white, red, yellow, yellow-green and light blue.
- Provenance
- Venice and Alastair Lamb, England, purchased in Bonwire, Ghana, 1971 to 1985
- Exhibition History
- 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. 80, no. 29.
- 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 Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks.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
- Before 1971
- Credit Line
- National Museum of African Art, National Museum of Natural History, purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 1983-85, EJ10596
- Medium
- Cotton, silk, indigo dye, synthetic dye
- Dimensions
- H x W: 198 x 122.5 cm (77 15/16 x 48 1/4 in.)
- Type
- Textile and Fiber Arts
