Kente cloth
Made by Gilbert Bobbo; Asante (Ashanti); Ghana
Donated by Gilbert Bobbo, 1986
5-10870
The kente cloth is a traditional mantle worn by the Asante aristocracy. Woven by professional male weavers, they are pieced together from sets of narrow-strips. The shimmering decorative effect comes from the manipulation of a floating layer of supplementary weft; originally made of silk, later rayon, and today, Lurex. Each design has its own traditional name, describing the pattern or referring to a proverb or historical incident.
(Photograph 1 of 18)
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