Shawl with block pattern

Kente is the most royal fabric par excellence. The colours gold and yellow, often used in kente fabrics, and also as a background for adinkra, are the colours of the king and his power. But they also refer to the presence and influence of God. Green stands, as in many cultures, for fertility, vitality and growth. Blue is the color of love, feminine tenderness and tranquility.‖ Traditionally, wearing the kente was reserved for the Asantehene and other important chiefs. Nowadays, it is also worn by ordinary people on formal and festive occasions. But it is mainly persons of distinction, or persons who want to acquire prestige, who cover themselves in a costly kente cloth. \Kente is by far the most precious textile of the Ashanti, and therefore a symbol of status and wealth. Kente consists of narrow strips sewn together with intricate woven patterns. \Some say it comes from the Ewe in the Volta region, others from the Fanti on the coast, and still others from the Moshi in what is now Burkina Faso. According to a legend, the art of weaving comes from two hunters, Nana Koragu and Nana Ameyaw. These hunters once went into the forest in search of prey. While they were searching through the trees, they came across a spider that was weaving a web. The hunters had never seen this before and were fascinated by the spider's ability to spin the silky thread to weave a web. Each of its legs performed a different function in creating the intricate pattern. The hunters returned home and began to build scaffolding and tools with which they could mimic the spider's weaving and the geometric pattern of the web. The fabric they managed to make with this later became known as kente (Source: Asamoah-Yaw, kente cloth).‖ All the different kente patterns have names and carry meanings and stories. They sometimes refer to events in history or to particular people. For example, the pattern Kyere Twie -'catch the leopard'- tells of King Kwaku Dua I ordering one of his subjects to catch a leopard alive (Rattray 1927:245), proof of courage and strength par excellence.\One of the most well-known kente patterns bears the name 'adwinasa', literally 'the ideas are out'. It refers to a legend: A king once chose a weaver to weave for him the most beautiful kente rug in the world. The weaver used all his craftsmanship, knowledge and creativity to combine all known patterns to create a unique pattern for the king. This very special design therefore got the name 'the ideas are gone' or 'all patterns have been used'. The pattern 'emmaa da', 'it has never come', is a symbol of creativity, innovation and novelty. 'Sika futuro', 'gold dust' is the name of a kente garment that shows that the wearer is rich in everything. His wealth is as inexhaustible as dust.Today, however, the stories and meanings of many weaving patterns are known only to the weavers or chiefs and a kente cloth is chosen for its aesthetic value and good quality rather than for the symbolic meaning of the pattern. But what is certainly not disappearing is the symbolic value of the kente in itself, as a sign of status and of wealth. \The kente collection of the Asantehene is the largest in the world, it is said. But other kings also have stacks of kente cloths, so they can pick out a different cloth to wear at every opportunity. Nana Aboagye Agyei II, King of Ejisu, tells of his kente collection. I have more than 20 different pieces of kente and a few adinkra cloths for funerals. Some I took over from my predecessors. Then I have added some of my own. Sometimes a very old cloth is suitable for a particular occasion. My chief weaver is in Bonwire, Mensah. Sometimes he says. Nana, there is a new design on the market. And then he makes a new design for me, but different from all others, so that you see the difference.\ In choosing the right cloth for the day, a king is helped by one of his confidants or by the queen mother. The king's clothes should be appropriate to the occasion in terms of colour and pattern, and a king cannot be an expert on everything. Sometimes for a special occasion a new pattern is created by one of the court weavers. Legend has it that in the old days the chosen weaver was executed after he had finished the new king's garment. Otherwise he might copy the same design for someone else, and according to tradition, a king's clothing must be different from the clothing of everyone else at a gathering. The king's kente should be the most exclusive and dazzling kente of all.‖ Kente is mainly worn at festivals, ceremonies and festive occasions such as a wedding or a promotion. But it is also used as decoration in the burial of the dead. It is then hung on the wall behind the bed or on the ceiling above it, or draped over the coffin.\nThe beauty and popularity of kente has led textile manufacturers to print kente patterns on cotton. The Vlisco factory in Holland (Helmond) was the first to do so. Such machine printed kente is very popular and for sale in many patterns. But of course it has nothing of the rich look of real kente. \Kente is the most royal fabric par excellence. The colours gold and yellow, widely used in kente fabrics, and also as a ground for adinkra, are the colours of the king and his power. But they also refer to the presence and influence of God. Green stands, as in many cultures, for fertility, vitality and growth. Blue is the color of love, feminine tenderness and tranquility.‖ Traditionally, wearing the kente was reserved for the Asantehene and other important chiefs. Nowadays, it is also worn by ordinary people on formal and festive occasions. But it is mainly persons of distinction, or persons who want to acquire prestige, who cover themselves in a costly kente cloth. \Kente is by far the most precious textile of the Ashanti, and therefore a symbol of status and wealth. Kente consists of narrow strips sewn together with intricate woven patterns. \Some say it comes from the Ewe in the Volta region, others from the Fanti on the coast, and still others from the Moshi in what is now Burkina Faso. According to a legend, the art of weaving comes from two hunters, Nana Koragu and Nana Ameyaw. These hunters once went into the forest in search of prey. While they were searching through the trees, they came across a spider that was weaving a web. The hunters had never seen this before and were fascinated by the spider's ability to spin the silky thread to weave a web. Each of its legs performed a different function in creating the intricate pattern. The hunters returned home and began to build scaffolding and tools with which they could imitate the spider's weaving and the geometric pattern of the web. The fabric they managed to make with this later became known as kente (Source: Asamoah-Yaw, kente cloth).‖ All the different kente patterns have names and carry meanings and stories. They sometimes refer to events in history or to particular people. For example, the pattern Kyere Twie -'catch the leopard'- tells of King Kwaku Dua I ordering one of his subjects to catch a leopard alive (Rattray 1927:245), proof of courage and strength par excellence.\One of the most well-known kente patterns bears the name 'adwinasa', literally 'the ideas are out'. It refers to a legend: A king once chose a weaver to weave for him the most beautiful kente rug in the world. The weaver used all his craftsmanship, knowledge and creativity to combine all known patterns to create a unique pattern for the king. This very special design therefore got the name 'the ideas are gone' or 'all patterns are used'. The pattern 'emmaa da', 'it has never come', is a symbol of creativity, innovation and novelty. 'Sika futuro', 'gold dust' is the name of a kente garment that shows that the wearer is rich in everything. His wealth is as inexhaustible as dust.Today, however, the stories and meanings of many weaving patterns are known only to the weavers or chiefs and a kente cloth is chosen for its aesthetic value and good quality rather than for the symbolic meaning of the pattern. But what is certainly not disappearing is the symbolic value of the kente in itself, as a sign of status and of wealth. \The kente collection of the Asantehene is the largest in the world, it is said. But other kings also have stacks of kente cloths, so they can pick out a different cloth to wear at every opportunity. Nana Aboagye Agyei II, King of Ejisu, tells of his kente collection. I have more than 20 different pieces of kente and a few adinkra cloths for funerals. Some I took over from my predecessors. Then I have added some of my own. Sometimes a very old cloth is suitable for a particular occasion. My chief weaver is in Bonwire, Mensah. Sometimes he says. Nana, there is a new design on the market. And then he makes a new design for me, but different from all others, so that you see the difference.\ In choosing the right cloth for the day, a king is helped by one of his confidants or by the queen mother. The king's clothes should be appropriate to the occasion in terms of colour and pattern, and a king cannot be an expert on everything. Sometimes for a special occasion a new pattern is created by one of the court weavers. Legend has it that in the old days the chosen weaver was executed after he had finished the new king's garment. Otherwise he might copy the same design for someone else, and according to tradition, a king's clothing must be different from the clothing of everyone else at a gathering. The king's kente should be the most exclusive and dazzling kente of all.‖ Kente is mainly worn at festivals, ceremonies and festive occasions such as a wedding or a promotion. But it is also used as decoration in the burial of the dead. It is then hung on the wall behind the bed or on the ceiling above it, or draped over the coffin.\nThe beauty and popularity of kente has led textile manufacturers to print kente patterns on cotton. The Vlisco factory in Holland (Helmond) was the first to do so. Such machine print...