H x W x D: 25.5 x 6 x .5 cm (10 1/16 x 2 3/8 x 3/16 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Bonwire, Ghana
Date:
Mid-20th century
Label Text:
The weaving sword holds open the space or shed between the two sets of warp threads. This allows the weaver to insert weft designs. This sword is decorated with a disk-shaped head similar to the akua'ba figures that promote fertility and the birth of a beautiful child.
Description:
Wood weaving sword composed of a disk head on a ring neck protruding from the wider end. The top half is darkened over with incised linear geometric designs.
Provenance:
Venice and Alistair Lamb, England, collected Bonwire, Ghana, 1970 to 1983
Exhibition History:
Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity, Newark Museum, September 15, 1998-January 3, 1999; Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, February 1-August 15, 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; Anchorage Museum of History and Art, November 19, 2000-February 25, 2001; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, April 14-July 15, 2001; Oakland Museum of California, October 13, 2001-January 15, 2002; Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, February 23-June 16, 2002
Published References:
Cole, Herbert M. and Doran H. Ross. 1977. The Arts of Ghana. Los Angeles: Museum of Cultural History, Univeresity of California, p.42, no. 65.
Ross, Doran H. 1998. Wrapped in Pride. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 90, no. 6.46.
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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, EJ10659
