Lot 71
FANTE ASAFO FLAG: IF YOU KNOW HOW TO HUNT, IT IS NOT THE PORCUPINE YOU GO AFTER
GHANA, C.1920
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities
Auction: 21 March 2018 at 11:00 GMT
Description
cotton applique flag, a leopard is shown jumping onto the back of a porcupine, whose spines are scattered, on a red background with white border and Union Jack in the top left
Dimensions
169X118cm
Footnote
Please note; Framed by John Jones to museum quality, the flag is mounted on a cotton backing and presented in a wooden frame.
Beginning in the 17th century, the Fante groups which inhabited the south-west coast of modern-day Ghana formed military and political units known as 'asafo' (deriving from sa, meaning war, and fo, meaning people). Each unit developed elaborate traditions of visual art, most striking of all the flags shown here. These comprised of bold naïve imagery appliqued onto a cotton background, they commonly depict indigenous proverbs which relate closely to the commissioning Asafo group. With the British conquest of the region in 1856 many Asafo groups incorporated versions of the Union Jack into the flag to enhance the power of the imagery.
The Fante admired the porcupine as a skilled 'warrior' able to shoot its spines at an enemy and then quickly grow more to continue the fight.