Ewe Nwentoma or Kente Ceremonial Cloth

Small lime-green woven cloth with tiny diamond motifs in dark rows.

This nwentoma or Kente ceremonial cloth is Ewe, from Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is cotton. Traditionally, kente was woven as thin strips stitched together into a toga-like garment, worn only by chiefs at festivals, on special occasions and during ritual ceremonies. Compact rectangle of woven cloth, bright green with yellow and dark diamond and zigzag motifs running in horizontal rows. The side borders are bolder, with narrow dark bands, and the fringe edge looks slightly ruffled. It is 116 inches wide and 84 long.

Bright, busy, and neater than it has any right to be.