This excellent pre-independence, Fante Asafo flag from Ghana is a true treasure. A wonderful, highly collectible, decorative art piece that tells of a distinct part of African Colonial history. This flag depicts a confrontation with one person being stuck in a cactus tree. This lovely old flag is most likely made by the master flagmaker Baba Issah.
Size: 40 x 62"
Stitching: mix of hand and machine stitching
Material: cotton, silk
Canton: United Kingdom
Proverb: unknown
workshop: Petubew-Asebo workshop
age: 1940's
Condition: holes and staining commensurate with age.
*This particular flag is a pre-independence Asafo flag likely dating from the 1940's. Flags of this age and kind are increasingly rare to find. Many ones of a similar age have been fetching upwards of 10k at auction as less and less come to market and more and more end up in Museum collections.
History:
Asafo flags derive from the militia groups of the Akan people of Ghana; many of whom lived along the coast and traded with Europeans for cloth. Lacking organised military at the time the Fante peoples organised into Asafo ( Sa meaning War and Fo meaning people) units that protected local interests. The Fante culture continues to this day with regular festivals.
