Notes

The gala wraps of the Asante, which are now commonly referred to as kente, are composed of strips that are separately woven and sewn together and were traditionally reserved for the exclusive use of the king or other high-ranking officials. To create them, weavers use a unique loom with two heddles that allows them to juxtapose warp-face patterns (the vertical stripes) and weft-face patterns (the horizontal, geometric designs) along the same strip. This technique requires significant preparation and skill.

Elaborate cloths, such as this one, were woven only on commission from members of the royal and chiefly elite. The warp design had to be drawn from the repertoire of designs approved by the Asante kings. Each design has a title that reflects either the region in which the design originated, the image that the design evokes (back of the tortoise, guinea-fowl feather), aspect of Asante culture or a proverb: Money attracts blood relatives, News of good deeds does not travel far.

The design of this cloth, Toku Akra Ntoma, translates as Toku's Soul cloth, and was commissioned to commemorate the warrior queen mother Toku and has since become a popular design. It is the weft-faced blocks and supplementary float designs where a weaver may express more than his technical skill. In these areas he is free to combine colour and design space as he pleases.

However, in this example the weaver has been constrained somewhat by the double-float weave reserved for high status of his patron. London based dealer Duncan Clarke provided information and comments that “cloths with such a heavy amount of weft float patterning date, I think, from the 1960s and 1970s. In general, they were expensive luxury styles that were worn by chief's and "big men" but not specifically royal.”

- Michael Heuermann

Provenance

Michael Heuermann Collection.