Making Kente - Tools and Techniques
Kente cloths are usually made from cotton. Cotton fibres come from the seed-heads of the cotton plant, known as bolls. Cotton is prepared and spun by women. The first stage is ginning - separating the seeds from the fibres by rolling them with a rod on a stone or wooden block. The second stage is loosening the fibres by plucking them with a bow or combing them. The third stage in preparing the cotton is spinning the fibre into thread. The spinner holds the cotton fibres in one hand, then uses a spindle to spin the thread with her other hand.
Kente cloths are woven by men, using a double-heddle loom. The word kente means indestructible - cloth which will not tear under any condition. These cloths are made from many narrow strips sewn together, making them strong as well as beautiful.
The tools and materials shown here were collected during fieldwork in the 1980s by Dr. Esther Goody, an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge Department of Social Anthropology. They come from Gonja, a region of northern Ghana.
Kente cloths are woven by men, using a double-heddle loom. The word kente means indestructible - cloth which will not tear under any condition. These cloths are made from many narrow strips sewn together, making them strong as well as beautiful.
The tools and materials shown here were collected during fieldwork in the 1980s by Dr. Esther Goody, an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge Department of Social Anthropology. They come from Gonja, a region of northern Ghana.
Loom, spindles and cotton samples on display at the Museum in 2005.
