Kente Cloth
Original Language TitleTogodo
CultureEwe peoples
Date1930s
MediumSilk and pigments
DimensionsApproximate: 78 × 127 inches (198.12 × 322.58 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: the Shirley and Barnett Helzberg Fund in support of the African Art department
Object number2013.2.2
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThis cloth is strip-woven and the medium is silk, which is considered the most prestigious among the Ewe people of Ghana. It is relatively large-sized cloth, which suggests that it was perhaps owned by a man of considerable height. Unlike the ordinary kente cloth, this piece’s yarns were created with threads harvested from unraveled European imported cloths. A laborious and complex process, only the most talented weavers have the know-how and their handiwork commands top price, which means that it is only the wealthy who can afford such cloths. Called Togodo or “Around the World”, the design comprises bold figurative motifs that speak to the owner’s life experiences and accomplishments, each framed by a diamond-shaped border.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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