Friday 14 December 2012

Cloth of the month: a unique embroidered Yoruba wrapper.

AS435

AS435 - Unique women's wrapper skirt cloth hand sewn from early C20th aso oke woven with local hand spun indigo dyed cotton with weft stripes of magenta silk “alaari” imported via the trans-Saharan caravan trade. Exceptionally the cloth is decorated with endless knot motifs and lines hand embroidered in colourful imported thread. Embroidery on wrappers is not usual among the Yoruba (although there was a brief vogue for machine embroidered wrappers in the 1970s) but was a custom among the Hausa, so it is possible that the embroidery on this piece is by a for a Hausa woman patron, or was influenced by knowledge of Hausa examples. Excellent condition. Dates from circa 1920s - 30s. Measurements: 77 ins x 55ins, 197 cm x 140.

AS435d

512

512a

Click on the photos to enlarge. More information on our website here.

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