Fante Asafo Flag, Green Appliqué Wall Hanging, 140 x 85cm

A handmade Fante Asafo flag, hand appliquéd on a deep green ground and finished with a white fringed edge, 140 by 85cm. The scene is cut and stitched by hand. Three figures in soft pointed caps stand across the panel, one holding a blade, one carrying a small basket, the third holding out a clay pot and a bowl to a fourth figure who reaches for it. An Akan stool sits above them and a band of black appliqué lettering runs along the foot. The corner carries the Ghana national flag, and a border of red, pink and white triangles frames the whole panel. It is made to hang. Fabric ties are stitched along the short edge, so it goes up on a pole or a length of dowel with no frame and no glazing, and it fills a wall above a sofa, a bed or a stairwell where a painting of this width would be hard to place. At 140cm across it reads from the other side of a room, which is what these flags were made to do. This is a flag made today in Cape Coast by working Asafo flag makers, not a historic flag. Cotton and polyester cloth, each shape cut and sewn down one at a time. Keep it out of direct sunlight, brush it gently, and do not machine wash it.