adire
- Museum number
- Af1971,35.17
- Description
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Adire textile (woman's) made of textile (cotton, European), dye (indigo), thread. Composed of two strips of plain weave machine woven cotton machine sewn together with machine sewn hems. The cloth is decorated by dividing the cloth into defined squares which are subsequently decorated using geometric shapes and natural motifs using the starch resist method. The cloth is known as Olokun “goddess of the sea and wealth.” There are 22 designs, bothe representational and decorative on each half of the cloth including:
Row 2: Square 1: Wire
: Square 3 (small square at right): Scorpian (or crocodile) fish, two birds and ?
Row 3: Square 1: Sticks
: Square 2: Spinning toys
: Square 3: Slaves shackles, snake, etc
Row 4: Square 2: 4 legged stool
Row 5: Square 1: beleke “divinity into peace.”
: Square 3: chameleon, scorpion, lizard, snake
Row 6: Square 1: Umberella
: Square 2: Fig leaves
: Square 3: Koran board
Row 7: Rectangle 1: legs of a paralysed man
The maker has signed the textile on the hem.
- Dimensions
-
Length: 196 centimetres
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Width: 176 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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(LaGamma and C. Giuntini, 2008)
‘The repertory motifs drawn upon this work is identified with a genre known as Olokun, which is the name of the deity of the sea and of wealth. The iconography is also known as ‘life is sweet.’ It is associated with bounty and prosperity, delivered through trade. While individual freehand executions vary in style, the imagery of the ten large squares follows and established prototype. The vocabulary of exacting motifs …in these dense compositions is passed down from mother to daughter’ (LaGamma and C. Giuntini, 2008. The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York).
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Register Entry: John Picton
Olokun “goddess of the sea and wealth” Purchased in OJE market IBADAN, March 1971. Some of the patterns are decorative and some are representational. Some of these are:
Row 2: Square 1: Wire
: Square 3 (small square at right): Scorpian (or crocodile) fish, two birds and ?
Row 3: Square 1: Sticks
: Square 2: Spinning toys
: Square 3: Slaves shackles, snake, etc
Row 4: Square 2: 4 legged stool
Row 5: Square 1: beleke “divinity into peace.”
: Square 3: chameleon, scorpion, lizard, snake
Row 6: Square 1: Umberella
: Square 2: Fig leaves
: Square 3: Koran board
Row 7: Rectangle 1: legs of a paralysed man
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Caption from Picton & Mack 1989, p.156:
'Yoruba adire cloth, Nigeria. Painted freehand with starch before dyeing. This combination of designs is called Olokun 'Goddess of the Sea.'
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2008-2009 29 Sep-05 Apr, New York, Metropolitan Museum, The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End
- Acquisition date
- 1971
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1971,35.17
