Ashanti Nwentoma or Kente Ceremonial Cloth

Strips, sewn edge to edge, made to look like a tapestry.

Kente is a woven cloth of cotton and silk that originates with the Akan people of Ghana. This nwentoma, woven by the Ashanti in the 20th century, forms a checkerboard of deep purple-blue bars framed in gold, alternating with blocks of small red, green and yellow motifs.

Wide orange-red borders with bands of color finish both ends. The colors remain rich, with the softness of a well-worn cloth. It runs over ten feet long and about six and a half feet wide.

Wear it, or at least stand near it.