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Textile (akunitan),

ca. 1940

Akan artist
2012-150
High ranking Akan men wear Akunitan (“cloth of the great”) to demonstrate their status through embroidered symbols. Covered with abstract and representational designs whose underlying meanings are widely recognizable to the Akan peoples, these wool cloths warn potential rivals of their owners’ powers and responsibilities. Stitched with contrasting colors, motifs include royal regalia (stools, umbrellas, swords), natural forms (plants, stars), and animals (elephants, porcupines, lions, fish). Other motifs are connected to the Akan verbal art of proverbs: the double-headed crocodile refers to a mythical beast whose two heads fight over food despite their shared stomach. It references the need for individuals in a society to think for the good of their community.

Information

Title
Textile (akunitan)
Dates

ca. 1940

Maker
Akan artist
Medium
Wool, cotton, and dye
Credit Line
Gift of Stephen S. Schwartz, Class of 1962 and Graduate School Class of 1964, Matthew L. Schwartz, Jonathan L. Schwartz, Class of 1999, and Nathaniel L. Schwartz, Class of 2007
Object Number
2012-150
Place Made

Africa, Ghana

Culture
African, Akan
Type
textiles
Materials
cotton (fiber), wool (textile)
Techniques
sewing, embroidering
Subject
swords, moons, plants, cats, fish, stars, trees, umbrellas, foliation (pattern), zigzags, crocodiles, lions, birds, elephants, stools, social status, rank, porcupines

Michael Schwartz, New Albany, OH; Princeton University Art Museum, 2012

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