Wednesday 9 April 2014

Cloth of the month: an unusual Ewe chief’s robe

E787

E787 - Exceptional Ewe chief’s cloth in superb, complete, condition. This unique cloth provides a textbook exemplar of the way in which an Ewe master weaver can constrain his use of colours and patterns to only a small subset of their available repertoire and then explore and improvise on the possibilities offered to create a new and distinctive design. Red and then yellow predominate on a dark green background. Weft faced blocks alternate with a double zigzag supplementary weft float pattern.

E787d

This pattern is subtly modified in a few places or substituted in others by a wider single zigzag in varying colours, note for example in the central strip of the detail below. The colours of the weft faced blocks are varied and occasional pattern changes introduced within them.

E787d1

The result is not only a unique pattern but an exploration of similarity and difference to beautiful effect.

Dates from circa 1930-50. Condition: Excellent, complete, no patches or stains. Size: 119 ins x 80, 329cm x 205, PRICE: Email us for price

Click on the photos to enlarge. For our current updated selection of Ewe cloths click here.

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