Kente Cloth (Nsasawa)
CultureAkan peoples, Asante subgroup
Dateearly 20th century
MediumSilk and pigments
DimensionsApproximate: 86 × 105 inches (218.44 × 266.7 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: the Shirley and Barnett Helzberg Fund in support of the African Art department
Object number2013.2.3
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThis cloth is strip-woven and the medium is silk, which is considered the most prestigious in Akan culture. Its relatively small size suggests that it was perhaps owned by a woman. Unlike the ordinary kente cloth, which is often composed of a single consistent pattern throughout the design, this piece was created from individual strips taken from different cloths, hence the name nsasawa (mix-mix). That kind of mixed composition is often associated with the wealthy in Akan culture, as it advertises the wearer as the owner of many cloths.ProvenanceWith John Akwasi Adu Agyei, Kenteland Enterprise, Accra, Ghana, by 2012 [1];
Purchased from John Akwasi Adu Agyei by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2013.
NOTES:
[1] According to John Akwasi Adu Agyei, Kenteland Enterprise, he bought this cloth from an elder of the town of Ntonso, near Kumasi.
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