Woven by Nana Tiko in Bonwire, this silk wrapper is handsewn of eight strips with a repeating geometric composition of blocks with zigzags and checkers. 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 cloth type is known as Asasia, the rarest and most prestigious of the cloths. It is woven on three pairs of heddles, producing a distinctive twill pattern in the diagonal alignment of the weft floats. The third pair of heddles allows for a more intricate weft pattern.
Asasia cloths are the exclusive prerogative of the Asantehene and those he designates. They were traditionally woven by a single family of weavers in Bonwire. When Venice Lamb was conducting her research from 1968 to 1972, she was told that there was only one weaver in the town who remembered the twill patterns and that he was no longer able to execute them. During research as recently as 1997, however, several weavers were reported as being capable of producing Asasia. It was only commissions from the Asantehene or other entitled chiefs that were lacking. Regardless, it is evident that these are the most labor intensive weavings.
Lamb, Venice. 1975. West African Weaving. London: Duckworth, pp. 125-128.
Ross, Doran. 1998. Wrapped in Pride. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 81.
Description:
Silk wrapper composed of eight strips with fringed ends and featuring repeating geometric designs in yellow, red, green and black checkered and zig zag motif.
Provenance:
Venice and Alastair Lamb, England, purchased in Bonwire, Ghana, 1970 to 1983-1985
Published References:
Ross, Doran. 1998. Wrapped in Pride. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, pp. 81, 298, nos. 6.15, 8.
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National Museum of African Art, National Museum of Natural History, purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 1983-85, EJ10579
