Man's kente (prestige cloth)

19th century

Not on view

Among the numerous fabrics that serve as body wraps throughout west Africa, perhaps the most striking is kente cloth, associated with the Asante of Ghana. It is made from narrow strips of cloth sewn together. Most kente cloths are named according to their warp pattern, though some are named after people (usually rulers), trees, plants, birds and animals. Kente was made famous by the late president Nkrumah of Ghana. As Venice Lamb comments in West African Weaving (1975), "Under the influence of the late President of Ghana, kente became something more than purely Ghanaian and almost the uniform of pan-Africanism."

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Man's kente (prestige cloth)
Artist: Asante-Akan artist
Date: 19th century
Geography: Ghana, Kumasi
Culture: Asante-Akan peoples
Medium: Cotton, silk
Dimensions: [no dimensions available]
Classification: Textiles
Credit Line: Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1972
Object Number: 1972.56.1
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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By Asante-Akan artist

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Abamphruwa (gold-dust box), Asante-Akan artist, Brass, Asante — Abamphruwa (gold-dust box)
Asante-Akan artist
19th–first quarter of 20th century

Lion Ornament, Asante-Akan artist, Gold, Akan peoples, Asante group — Lion Ornament
Asante-Akan artist
19th century

Velvet Panel with Flowering Plants, Silk, cotton, flat metal wrapped thread; cut and voided velvet, brocaded — Velvet Panel with Flowering Plants
first half 17th century

Kuduo vessel, Asante-Akan artist, Brass, pigment, Akan peoples, Asante — Kuduo vessel
Asante-Akan artist
18th–19th century

Lion Ornament, Asante-Akan artist, Gold, Akan peoples, Asante — Lion Ornament
Asante-Akan artist
19th century

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