AA Unit 2: Asante: Gold, Kente, and Adinkra

Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool), Asante, Ghana, c. 1701 Held by the Asantehene, Kumasi

Man’s Kente (Prestige Cloth) Asante-Akan artist, Kumasi, Ghana, 19th c. Cotton and silk, strip-woven

Nsodie (memorial head), Akan peoples

Adinkra prestige cloth, Asante-Akan artist, Ghana, 1960s.

Akua’ba, Asante peoples, Ghana, 19th–20th c. 

Prestige object

An object whose value comes from the status it signals rather than practical use.

Proverb as visual sign

An image or motif that stands for a well-known saying, so the object “speaks” a message to viewers who know the proverb.

Regalia

The objects and dress that identify and legitimize a ruler, In Asante, the Golden Stool, which is believed to hold the soul of the nation.

Political authority

The recognized right to govern and make decisions for a community.

Commemoration

Honoring and preserving the memory of a person or event through objects or ritual.

Matrilineal descent

Tracing family lineage, inheritance, and succession through the mother’s line.