About this artwork
Although kente is widely associated with Asante people, their Ewe neighbors also produce garments using a similar technique. The blue-and-white color scheme of these wrappers recalls early kente cloth made by both the Asante and the Ewe in the 18th century. Woven with undyed and indigo-dyed cotton, the narrow strips of light and dark rectangles are arranged to create the characteristic kente checkerboard pattern. The two cloths seen here would have been worn as a set, with the larger rectangular panel worn around the woman’s torso and the square cloth worn as shawl or a head wrap, depending on the occasion.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Textiles
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Culture
- Ewe
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Title
- One of Pair of Kente Wrappers
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Place
- Ghana (Object made in)
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Date
- Made 1925–1975
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Medium
- Pieced of 15 strips of cotton, warp striped plain weave with supplementary patterning and brocading wefts and self-patterned by bands of ground weft-floats
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Dimensions
- 172 × 137.4 cm (67 3/4 × 54 1/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Gil and Roda Graham
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Reference Number
- 2002.537.1