wrapper
- Museum number
- 2018,2036.270
- Description
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Wrapper; composed of ten wide strips, hand sewn together. Fine white cotton warp. Weft-faced cloth in indigo-dyed cotton with multi-coloured blocks in cotton arranged regularly across cloth. Supplementary weft float geometric and figurative patterns in red and white cotton placed in between weft blocks. Hand sewn hems at both ends.
- Production date
- 1920s-1930s (circa)
- Dimensions
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Length: 244 centimetres
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Width: 164 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- This is an example of a rare group of Ewe cloths that stands apart from the mainstream. A constant feature is the positioning of weft float designs on blue backgrounds in such a way as to disrupt the normal Ewe insistence on a chequerboard design. Another common feature is the use of sub-standard thread in the warp which has decayed and led to the weft patterns unravelling. This is a reasonably well-preserved example; for a particularly fine one see ‘African Textiles, the Karun Thakar collection’, Prestel 2015, pp.82-3.
Research by Duncan Clarke has suggested that these cloths were made in Kpalime, now in Togo and on the eastern periphery of the Ewe-speaking area. He has seen about 12 cloths of this group.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Fair; rubbed and abraded supplementary wefts with associated losses. Warp threads partially perished leading to weft unravelling.
- Acquisition date
- 28 Nov 2018
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased by the donor in June 2009 from African textile dealer/collector Duncan Clarke in London.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- 2018,2036.270
- Additional IDs
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Previous owner/ex-collection number: II.P1 (Griffiths-Rudoe collection number)