- Museum number
- Af1938,1117.53
- Description
-
Card with 22 samples of Asante kente cloth warp patterns, numbered from 1 to 22, as mounted for reproduction as plate 126 in R S Rattray's 'Religion and Art in Ashanti', Oxford 1927. As recorded in Rattray's book they are:
1. Blue and white cloth: Possibly Adjua Afwefwe (a girls name)
2. Yellow and pink cloth possibly called SAMA after the son of one of the chiefs of Bonwere
3. Indigo coloured sample possibly know as Kyemfere (the potsherd) or sometimes Ponko Se (the horses tooth)
4. Green, yellow and red possibly called Ortromo (the bongo)
5. Blue, purple and light blue an white stripes possibly called Twene Bort also sometimes called Ntokosie after one of the weavers wives of old time Ashanti Kings
6. Black and white chequered cloth possible known as Kofi Esono (Kofi- the elephant) and Ashanti celebrity who was given the cloth by king of Ashanti
7. White, maroon, yellow and green possibly called Atabia Bene
8. Blue, maroon, black and yellow possibly called Ebiriti
9. Maroon, black, white and yellow possibly called Atabia (the name of a small envelope)
10. Black, maroon, yellow, white and green stripe possibly called Awakwe Asare after a prince of the Asona clan
11. Blue yellow, green, black and maroon stripes possibly called Amere (a personal name formally only used by king of Ashanti
12. Blue, white, red, green and yellow stripe possibly called Aba Were ( the name of a small bird)- worn by queen mother
13. Dark blue, white, yellow, maroon and light blue possibly called Bansoa (name of small bird said to be very brave)
14. Dark blue, maroon, green, yellow, black and white possibly called Dokoasiri Krofa- formally worn only by the king of Ashanti.
15. Indigo blue, white, yellow and maroon possibly called Ansaku- former king of Akwamu
16. Maroon, white, black yellow, green possibly called Nkwantia Ogye Akore which means ' it is at the small cross roads that the sacrifice is made'
17. White, dark and light blue and maroon possibly called Ntumedie meaning flying sparks from a bush fire
18. Black, white, maroon, yellow, green and black possibly called Atoko which means the enemy
19. Light, blue, yellow, maroon, and black possibly called Hoaasonawo (the blue asona snake)
20. Yellow, maroon and green design possibly called Adweneasa which means ' my ideas have come to an end'
21. Dark blue and white possibly called Nkuruma Bete
22. Yellow, maroon, white, black, light blue, green possibly called Dokoasiri of Nkoasiri only worn by king or queens.
- Production date
- 1927 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Length: 30.60 centimetres (card)
-
Width: 22 centimetres (card)
- Curator's comments
- Af1938.1117.53 to 64 are the 12 cards of samples of warp designs which were published as colour plates in Rattray's 'Religion and Art in Ashanti', Oxford 1927, figs.126 to 137. The numbering was added before the photographs were taken, and so are those that Rattray lists in his text. This gives both the name of each design and any comment on its history and sometimes on who had the right to wear it.
The figure numbers run in two series: 8 plates of the coloured warp designs (numbered 1 to 108, reproduced as plates 126 to 108), and 4 plates of the blue and white series (numbered from 1 to 72, and reproduced as plates 61 to 64). The final two numbers of the BM series (Af1938,1117.65 and 66) are of samples, all of which seem to be duplicates of those shown in his book and for this reason were never used.
All the samples were purchased by the BM in 1938 after Rattray's death, from Lloyds Bank who were Rattray's executors.
Each strip is a cross-section of a single strip, woven in imported European silk (or more probably rayon) or imported European cotton. They were commissioned by Rattray and intended to demonstrate the warp pattern and its name. The strip widths are about 8cm, the lengths much shorter. The measurements given on the records are of the complete card on which they were mounted and numbered in order to be photographed.
The names of the patterns demonstrated by the samples were never fixed, and different weavers gave them different names. The names given here are those recorded by Rattray.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1995, London, Barbican Art Gallery, The Art of African Textiles
2008-2009 Sep-Apr, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design without end
1979-1982 Dec-Nov, London, Museum of Mankind (rooms 7 & 9), African Textiles.
1983 Jun-Dec, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, African Textiles.
- Acquisition date
- 1938
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1938,1117.53
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: Fig. 126 (Nos. 1-22) (Rattray number)