Cloth of the Great (Akunitam)
CultureAkan peoples, Fante subgroup
Date1950s
MediumWool and silk threads
Credit LineGift of Nii and Martina Quarcoopome
Object number2013.3
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThis cloth is a type known as Akunitam or “cloth of the great” among the coastal Fante people of Ghana, among whom it is reserved strictly for chiefs. Akunitam is made of a European imported blanket that is embroidered with colored silk threads. Using industrial sewing machines, Fante tailors employ a technique of continuous embroidery, creating very bold figurative motifs. Akunitam was fashionable in the first half of the 1900s but has since lost its appeal because of the increasingly warm weather. It is still part of the regalia of Fante chiefs,as it is considered prestigious. The motifs may include emblems of political office, such as stools, crowns, and swords, as well as proverbial symbols. Some patterns, particularly animal imagery, may also denote clan affiliations.ProvenanceAcquired in Ghana by Nii and Martina Quarcoopome, Farmington Hills, MI, 1998-2013;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2013.
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John Douglas Patrick
undated
2009.47.4
