Man's cloth

Asante artist

20th century

Cotton, strip woven, supplementary weft patterning

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A textile with a repeating pattern of squares and stripes in black, white, and gray. The pattern is arranged in a grid with a border at the top and bottom. Kente cloth is believed to have originated in Ghana in the mid-17th century. The first cloths were made of locally produced cotton and embellished with simple patterns of stripes and designs of indigo-dyed thread on a white ground. This piece, although more elaborate than the earliest cloths, is representative of the most traditional and enduring styles. Both Ewe and Asante weavers produce this type of cloth in the old style. This piece is most likely to be Asante in origin, based on the geometric <I>adwen</I> (designs) and the use of the <I>Akyem</I> (shield) motif in the border and in the blocks of patterning. Two of the strips ar