carrying-cloth;
baby-carrier;
bogolanfini
- Museum number
- Af1987,07.1
- Description
-
Cloth/ carrying cloth composed of four hand plain woven narrow strips hand sewn together selvedge to selvedge. The cloth has been decorated with the mud resist method (refer to curatorial comment). The pattern divides the cloth into four and creates a central diamond chain pattern. The cloth is unhemmed.
- Production date
- 1980 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Length: 154 centimetres
-
Width: 50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- See Ethdoc 54 (1986.1) 'After a woman gives birth, her mother or an elderly woman in her husband's family provides her with this cloth which is used exclusively to carry the newborn child...'
Register 1987
A 'narrow strip' cotton cloth, dyed to a yellow ochre colour. Black vertical lines extend the length of the cloth, and there is a centrally placed decoration of dots enclosed in diamond and triangular shapes.
Bamana, Nerekoro Village, Mali.
Cloth for carrying a baby. Known as Bamounan in Bamana, these cloths are always dyed yellow and decorated with similar geometric designs in black. An example of the so-called 'mud-cloth' or Bogolanfini, this textile has been produced by the unusual technique of 'discharge' (rather than 'resist') dyeing, in which the pattern is produced by 'discharging the dye from certain areas using a caustic solution'. For a full description of this technique and of each individual cloth in this collection see Eth Doc provided by the vendor, and the following published works:
Brett-Smith, SC. Res Vol 3, 1982 pp15-31
Brett-Smith, SC. Res Vol 6, 1983 pp47-64
Brett-Smith, SC. Empirical Studies of Art 2:2 1984 pp127-47
Donne, JB. Man 1973, vol 8:1 pp.104-107.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1987
- Acquisition notes
- Af1987,07.1 to 21 are described in the purchase book as a 'collection of 20 textiles from Mali, 18 of the type known as 'bogolanfini' (mud cloth) from the Bambara; and 2 from the Dogon (19 and 20); plus a Bambara masquerade costume (21). All were collected by the donor, and the collection was accompanied by 21 slides documenting the collection'. See Eth.Doc.54.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1987,07.1