Mossi indigo wrapper cloths

Indigo has been on my mind a lot recently. I finally got around to reading Jenny Balfour-Paul’s classic book Indigo in the Arab World (Routledge, 1997) and ten days or so ago I returned from a brief trip to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso where I had passed an enjoyable week looking around for more Mossi indigo wrappers. These soft faded old cloths are among the best sellers in our shop (cushions made from them can be seen in the Andalusian estate on the cover of October 2012 issue of World of Interiors.)  Since then the post from Burkina has been bringing large bags of the cloths in their various shades, recalling Balfour-Paul’s wonderful list  - in eighteenth century Europe “dyers classified indigo colours into thirteen separate shades, beginning with the lightest: ‘milk-blue, pearl-blue, pale-blue, flat-blue, middling-blue, sky-blue, queen’s blue, turkish-blue, watchet-blue, garter-blue, mazareen-blue, deep-blue, and very deep or navy-blue (or ‘infernal blue’).” (page 117.)

On our cloths it is years of rigorous hand washing and drying under the fierce Saharan sun that have created the range of shades rather than the initial dyeing.

In the mid-C20th postcard above the cones of thatch cover the indigo dye pits to maintain them at the correct temperature. Two indigo wrappers may be seen hanging at the right of the figures.

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For some of the Mossi wrappers and other of our vintage indigo cloths for sale click here.

Minimal #7: Yoruba women’s weave, trans-Saharan trade silk and wild silk.

More from an occasional series of posts that will highlight some rare West African textiles where the elaboration and complexity of design that usually typifies high status textiles is replaced by a more minimal aesthetic….

NW489 - Another extremely rare and early type of Yoruba women's weave cloth, dating from the late C19th or early C20th. One is shown in the classic book "Nigerian Weaving" (1980:200) by Venice Lamb and Judy Holmes and captioned "a very old pure silk Yoruba cloth." We have collected three others over the years, the last one about 5 years back. The warp is local beige and white wild silk sanyan, the weft white hand spun cotton, while the design alternates rows of openwork holes with threefold lines of supplementery weft float woven from thick loosely spun magenta silk from the trans Saharan trade. Formed of two panels of cloth joined at the centre and woven by a woman using an upright single heddle loom. Condition: loose fibres from the magenta silk have spread onto adjacent beige and white fibres in places, creating an appearance similar to slight colour bleeding, otherwise condition is excellent. Measurements: 78ins x 56, 200cm x 142.

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More details on our gallery here.

Minimal #6: Yoruba women’s weave wild silk wrapper cloth.

More from an occasional series of posts that will highlight some rare West African textiles where the elaboration and complexity of design that usually typifies high status textiles is replaced by a more minimal aesthetic….

NW469 - Very rare early C20th cloth woven from local beige wild silk "sanyan" with stripes of creamy white hand spun cotton. Bands of openwork woven holes decorate the lower edge of the cloth. Sanyan cloths woven by women are far scarcer than strip woven sanyan. Formed of two panels of cloth joined at the centre and woven by a woman using an upright single heddle loom. This beautiful cloth has a soft feel, a few minor marks and worn spots but overall is in good condition. Measurements: 77ins x 59ins, 195cm x 149 cm.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

More details on our gallery here.

Minimal #5–Yoruba women’s weave indigo wrapper cloth.

More from an occasional series of posts that will highlight some rare West African textiles where the elaboration and complexity of design that usually typifies high status textiles is replaced by a more minimal aesthetic….

NW470 - Indigo dyed marriage cloth from the Igbomina subgroup of the Yoruba people, in a style called "eleya" distinguished by a wide band of openwork decoration along the lower edge of the cloth. Formed of two panels of cloth joined at the centre and woven by a woman using an upright single heddle loom. Dates from circa 1930-50 and is in excellent condition. Measurements: 76ins x 57, 193cm x 145.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

More details on our gallery here.