エウェ族およびアシャンテ族における儀礼用織布の製作技法

抄録

There are, at present, in Togo and Ghana, numerous textile workshops where long, narrow strip cloth of a width of approximately ten centimeters, are woven. These long strips are sewn together to produce one large piece of cloth which is then used as wearing apparel. Kente cloth, the representative type from this region, was in the past used only as clothing by the court of the Asante kingdom. In recent times, Kente cloth began to be worn by the general population and now it is produced by both the Ewe as well as the Asante. As the finished cloth was quite similar, it was not clear, however, whether or not these two different peoples employed exactly the same techniques during the weaving process. In order to determine where such points of similarity or difference in method might exist, this author spent the three months from December 1980 to March 1981 at the workshop of Mr. Adjakpley Kafu Mawu, located in Asshoun in the village of Tsévié, which is located in the coastal region of the Republic of Togo. The results of the investigation, described below, indicate that there are, in fact, striking differences between the respective techniques used in the preparation, that is, the looming of the warp threads.
The production of Kente cloth begins by counting out the desired number of threads and cutting them to the length of what will be the finished material. Each tribe uses both different numbers of warpbeams and spaces them differently, and the methods by which the warp threads are wound are completely different. In order to loom the threads, by passing them through the heddles and reeds, the Ewe let them hang from the loom where as the Asante spread them on the ground. In addition to such technical differences, the looms themselves are not identical. Although both peoples use standing looms, the Ewe use crossbeams around which the finished cloth is wound as well as backbeams which form part of the posts of the loom, and are therefore fixed in position. The Asante, on the other hand, arrange these two features so that they can be adjusted to the seated height of the weaver. In addition, the Ewe use stone blocks or string to fix the crossbeams into position, while the Asante employ the backbeams for this purpose. Nevertheless, when the Kente cloth is finally removed from the loom, it is impossible to tell from the finished product alone whether the weaver was an Ewe or an Asante.
If only the production techniques form the basis of comparison, it may be said that those of the Asante are superior. In defense, however, it must be noted that the Ewe have only recently begun to weave this type of cloth. The traditional techniques which the Ewe have preserved over the years are manifested in their production of this type of cloth as well as in the traditional cloth which they have always produced, known as Lokpo cloth, and it is only in the final designs that are woven into the finished cloth that the Asante features can be seen.