Kente cloth
Tejido kente
- Date
- c. siglos XVII-XVIII · confidence low
- Place
- Bonwire, Ashanti Region, Ghana
- Credited to
- Asante and Ewe weavers
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Cloth woven in narrow strips on a treadle loom, whose sewn strips form named patterns with meanings. Originally reserved for Asante kings, it is now an emblem of Ghana.
The Bonwire legend (two hunters copying a spider, c. 1695) is oral tradition; Ewe kente (Volta region) is a parallel tradition and its relation to Asante kente is debated. Secure references date from the 18th century.
What it led to
- the visual identity of the Asante court
- the textile industry of Bonwire and the Ewe region of Agbozume
- a pan-African political symbol in the 20th century