The Fire Next Time

1968

Vincent Smith American, 1929 - 2003

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About the Artwork

Adinkra cloths boast a complex visual vocabulary of geometric and figurative motifs, each of which encapsulates a widely understood, specific meaning. The Asante people of what is modern-day Ghana made adinkra primarily as funeral cloths. Indeep, the name adinkra means "to send a message," suggesting that the living created them to communicate via the newly dead to long-departed souls in the world beyond.

The owner of the cloth often specified their message preferences, which the manufacturer would stamp onto the fabric using patterns carved from a gourd and dipped in vegetable dye. This cloth's sixteen designs include gye nyame ("except god") and dwennimen ("ram's horns"), which symbolize humility, strength, and wisdom.

The oldest andinkra in existence was collected by John Bowdich in 1817 and now resides in the Britist Museum, London. A second, commissioned by the Danish governor of Ghana, entered the Danish national collection around 1850. With its uniquely carved symbols, this cloth likely dates before 1900.

Title The Fire Next Time

Artwork Date 1968

Artist Vincent Smith

Life Dates 1929 - 2003

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil and sand on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 22 × 32 1/2 inches (55.9 × 82.6 cm) Framed: 23 3/4 × 33 7/16 × 1 5/8 inches (60.3 × 84.9 × 4.1 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department African American Art

Credit Museum Purchase, W. Hawkins Ferry Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2005.3

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Provenance

2005-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback