Fon appliqué cloths, once the exclusive province of the Dahomey elite and used to signify status, underwent a dramatic metamorphosis in the 20th century following the extinction of the Dahomey kingdom by the French. Adams (1980: 28) remarks of Fon appliqué cloths: “Once an elite art embedded in a local culture, it became a product of offered aggressively to anonymous buyers at the Abomey market, to itinerant traders for other African markets, and finally to international exporters to Europe and America.”

REFERENCES

Adams, Monni. “Fon Appliqued Cloths.” African Arts13, no. 2 (1980): 28.

https://doi.org/10.2307/3335514.