Wrapper

Object Details

Asante artist

Label Text

In West Africa, cloth is made of wool, cotton or silk, or combinations of these materials. Woven on narrow strip looms, they are then hand or machine-sewn together to create large wrappers, cloths or blankets with patterns dyed or woven into the fabric.

The placement of this wrapper's pattern blocks and the order of the background stripes in this cloth typify the asymmetrical nature of West African textile design. Its pattern name is mmaban which means "mixed," a reference to the variation in the warp designs. Its yellow silk was unraveled from imported cloth and the cotton thread is also machine spun.

Description

Cotton and silk wrapper composed of thirteen panels handsewn at the selvedges in varying patterns and blocks of geometric designs in red, white, dark blue, light green, yellow, light blue and light yellow.

Provenance

Venice and Alastair Lamb, England, purchased in Bonwire, Ghana, 1969 to 1985

Exhibition History

Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity, Newark Museum, September 15, 1998-January 3, 1999; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 12, 1999-January 2, 2000; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, May 13-July 30, 2000

Patterns of Life: West African Strip-Weaving Traditions, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 28, 1987-February 29, 1988

Published References

Gilfoy, Peggy. 1987. Patterns of Life: West African Strip Weaving Traditions. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 83, no. 31.

Ross, Doran H. 1998. Wrapped in Pride. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 297, no. 7.

Content Statement

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Credit Line

National Museum of African Art, National Museum of Natural History, purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 1983-85, EJ10598

Before 1969

Object number

EJ10598

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Textile and Fiber Arts

Medium

Cotton, silk, indigo dye, natural dye, synthetic dye

Dimensions

H x W: 158 x 97.8 cm (62 3/16 x 38 1/2 in.)

Geography

Bonwire, Ghana

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Object Name

kente

kubi mmaban

National Museum of African Art

Topic

Adornment

male

Record ID

nmafa_EJ10598

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys77967daf6-4403-4ee1-8418-6841b860328c