New acquisitions - part one

This is the first of a series of posts over the next week or so that will highlight selected new acquisitions that are now available in our London gallery or through the website.These are exceptional museum quality pieces and are priced accordingly, but we also carry an extensive collection of more modest but still rare and beautiful fabrics.

Ewe500: this unique and remarkable cotton cloth would have been commissioned from an Ewe master weaver in the Volta region of Ghana by a wealthy chief or other prominent man in order to display great wealth on an important ceremonial occasion. Dating from around 1930 to 40s, it has over 400 distinct motifs executed using the supplementary weft float technique, including people, animals, birds, fish etc. These motifs are time consuming and therefore expensive to weave and are usually spaced out quite sparingly between weft faced bands on the woven strips that make up the cloth. An example such as this one where the design is totally composed of the motifs is very rare. In sewing up the cloth the weaver has varied the placement of the narrow plain band at one selvedge of each strip to create visual interest in the pinstriped background.
To view other vintage Ewe cloths from our inventory click here