Saturday 20 October 2012

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

NW469

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….

NW469d

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.

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