Currently not on view
Wrapper (adinkra),
mid-20th century
Artist unrecorded
Asante
2019-125
The light and brightly colored design of this garment suggests it is a kwasiada (Sunday) wrapper, worn for celebrations, while darker colored cloths were reserved for funerals and mourning. Colorful stitching binds each of the imported cotton panels, enhancing its festive nature. Each horizontal register is divided into squares or rectangles that are filled with abstract designs stamped or drawn in black pigment prepared by boiling tree bark with a solution containing iron slag. These symbols, also known as adinkra, recur across Asante culture and often refer to proverbs, folktales, or popular sayings. Interpretation of their meaning relies on one’s existing wisdom and cultural knowledge. The chain motif, called nkonsonkonson, that appears in the second square of the top row, signals unity and the interconnectedness of humanity.
Information
Title
Wrapper (adinkra)
Dates
mid-20th century
Maker
Medium
Cotton, silk, and dye
Dimensions
247 × 341 cm (97 1/4 × 134 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Hugh Leander Adams, Mary Trumbull Adams and Hugh Trumbull Adams Princeton Art Fund and anonymous gift
Object Number
2019-125
Place Made
Africa, Ghana
Type
Materials
Subject
[Private collection, Accra, Ghana, by 2019]; [purchased by Adire African Textiles, London, UK, March 2019]; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, May 2019.
