Asante
Ghana
Kente Wrapper (Nsaduaso)
INV-1498
Asante
Ghana1925-75
Kente Wrapper (Nsaduaso)
Asante Ghana →asanteArts of AfricaafricanCoastal West Africakenteweaving
Date
1925-75
Medium
Silk, cotton, and rayon, 27 narrow woven strips of plain weave with bands of weft-faced, warp-ribbed plain weave and bands of plain weave with supplementary brocading wefts; joined
Dimensions
335.2 × 231 cm (132 × 91 in.); Strip: W.: 8.9 cm (3 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection
The specialized designs, color combinations, and warp-strip configurations that define kente cloth, which makes up this wrapper, were probably first created under the patronage of the Asantehene, monarch of the historical Kingdom of Asante. Draped over one shoulder and falling to the wearer’s feet in lavish folds, the finely woven cloth is only one part of the rich array of royal presentation regalia and visual markers of kingship, wealth, and status.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
