A Sierra Leone Display Cloth.

Display textile used as a backdrop for chieftaincy ceremonies and other important events, kpokpo, early to mid C20th, Mende or Vai peoples, Sierra Leone. Hand spun white and indigo dyed cotton, red machine spun cotton. 61 x 140 inches (155 x 356 cm). Private Collection.

Detail of central portion. Note the thicker warp thread running down the centre of each 10 inch width strip that serves to guide and anchor the tapestry weave squares in the centre of the cloth.

Detail of border section. Two shades of indigo, narrow red stripes framing the extra weft float patterning.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Three Early Textiles from Côte D’Ivoire in Newark Museum.

Although there are currently large quantities of  fairly recently woven cloths from the Baule peoples of Côte D’Ivoire in the international market, the earlier textile traditions of that country remain obscure and little researched. Much of the detail of the historical relationship between Ivoirian textiles and those of neighbouring countries such as Mali and Ghana is still to be understood. How do earlier cloths relate to the ethnic groups such as Senufo, Guro, and Baule that are so well known to collectors of African sculpture ? Looking carefully at textiles with early acquisition dates in museum collections is one way in which scholars can begin to address some of these issues.  The three cloths shown below were accessioned by Newark Museum in 1928 and according to records generously shared by Newark Museum Research Associate Roger D. Arnold were purchased that year from a gallery in Paris. The first and to me most interesting (Newark Museum #28.835) is to my knowledge the earliest recorded example of this very elaborate and odd type of cloth that a couple of later sources have attributed to the Guro.

 

As Roger suggested to me there are intriguing visual similarities between this cloth and some from Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde.

The other two (Newark Museum#28.836 & 28.862) are fine examples of a slightly better known type of cloth with blocks of extra weft float patterning in a style that is primarily associated with the Dioula (Jula) people of northern Côte D’Ivoire. However the use of red and yellow for the patterning in these two examples rather than the more typical white is exceptional.

Thanks are due to Roger Arnold for the images.

“Visvim” and Indigo strip weave

From Japanese cult brand Visvim, men’s jacket tailored from faded Burkinabe indigo cloths…

Exhibition: “David Adjaye Selects” at Cooper Hewitt

 

ABOUT DAVID ADJAYE SELECTS: WORKS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION

On view June 19, 2015 through Feb. 14, 2016

“Architect David Adjaye presents 14 West and Central African textiles from the museum’s permanent collection in the latest installment of the Selects series. On view in the renovated Marks Gallery on the museum’s first floor, the exhibition is the 12th in the ongoing series, in which prominent designers, artists and architects are invited to mine and interpret the museum’s collection.

Hailed as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and with projects underway on four continents, Adjaye is known for combining the aesthetics of his African heritage with classic, modernist design. In exploring Cooper Hewitt’s collection, he has created a dialogue between the museum’s textiles and his own “library of patterns” that he draws on as a source of inspiration in his work. Having lived in Africa as a child and visited each of the continent’s 54 nations as an adult, Adjaye is deeply affected by the importance of textiles in the visual culture of Africa, whose forms and patterns are often reflected in his buildings.”

More information and a link to download the brochure here.

Do get the  brochure and read Adjaye’s comments which are rather more interesting the the textiles on display – with the exception of the Ewe on the brochure cover they are pretty mundane pieces.

Adinkra studio portrait, Togo.

Elder wearing an adinkra cloth. Studio portrait, Togo. Stamp on the reverse reads “Elegance Photo Studio, S.Adewola, Niamtougou, Togo.” Date stamped 14 March 1985.

Click here to view our selection of adinkra cloths.

Kente Cloth Sale

We are having a summer sale of kente cloths from a British private collection assembled in the early 1990s. Click here to see the sale.

Sierra Leone Textiles–the Alldridge Collection in Brighton Museum–part two

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery houses more than 100 objects from Sierra Leone purchased in 1899 from Thomas Joshua Alldridge (1947-1916). Alldridge was in Sierra Leone for extended periods between 1871 and 1905,  served as District Commissioner for Sherbro district between 1894 and 1905, travelled extensively throughout much of the country. Among the collection at Brighton are a small but important group of textiles. Sierra Leone textiles are extremely rare and the early dating and provenance makes this perhaps the second ranking group worldwide after those at the British Museum. The accession notes attribute all of them to “Mendiland”, indicating that the weavers were Mende, but given that Alldridge did travel widely in the area over a number of years the possibility that some came from other ethnic groups can not be rules out.

None of the cloths are currently on display but last month I was able to view them with the kind assistance of curators Helen Mears and Martin Pel. Due to the size of the cloths it was not possible to take full view photographs but I was able to get detail pictures that are worth sharing. The three textiles shown here are all display hangings, long and elaborate cloths that would have served as a backdrop for important village events and enhanced the status of the family and chieftaincy that owned them. All three owe a debt to historical links between Mali and Sierra Leone, both in the underlying structure of a blue and white checkerboard layout and in the use of tapestry weave patterning. All are woven from hand spun cotton.

Reference #BMAG.R3483.110a

Reference # BMAG.R3483.110c

Reference # BMAG.R3483.110f

Click on the photos to enlarge.