FANTE ASAFO FLAG: IF WE CAN TAME THE LEOPARD WHAT CHANCE HAVE YOU MERE ANIMALS
GHANA, EARLY 20TH CENTURY
£4,000
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities
Auction: 21 March 2018 at 11:00 GMT
Description
cotton applique flag, a woman is shown seated on a prestige stool with a leopard beneath and antelope in front, on a green background, black and white chevron border, abstract Union Jack top left
Dimensions
171.5X131cm
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.
Here we see an Asafo company boasting of its military prowess and taunting a rival group. Some Asafo companies had a woman's auxiliary headed by female officers.