Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series:
Diversity of African Textiles
African Textiles: West Africa
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part II
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part III
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV
Djerma Weaving of Niger and Burkina-Faso
Woolen Stripweaves of the Niger Bend
Nigerian Horizontal - Loom Weaving
Yoruba Lace Weave
Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete
African Tie and Dye
Tie and Dye of the Dida, Ivory Coast
African Stitch Resist
Yoruba Stitch Resist
Introduction[1]
Ewe weavers are acknowledged to be some of the most skilful in West Africa. Indeed, they are in such demand that they can found to be working as far away as Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria. Versatile and adaptable, they weave in three areas of south-east Ghana: at Abbozume and around the Geta lagoon; at Kpetoe; and up around K[andu. Although examples of Ewe's work can be seen across the border in Togo and with their relatives the Son in Benin - both weave in a similar style with the best work probably in Ghana.
Akan woman of the old Gold Coast wearing a Ewe stripwoven waist wrap.
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV[1]
Traditionally, the Ewe have always woven in cotton, though nowadays much of their production is in rayon, in strips, following the Ashanti style for export to the Afro-American market.
Woman's keta cotton cloth stripwoven in Agbozume.
What distinguishes traditional Ewe weaving from that of the Ashanti is the use of cotton rather than silk or rayon and the introduction of floating weft patterns of a figurative nature into some of the warp-faced sections of strip. Much Ewe work is plain chequered cloth made up of strips sewn selvedge to selvedge, with warp-faced blocks alternating with weft-faced blocks in each strip, as is the case around the Geta lagoon.
Men's keta cloth woven in the Kpetoe district by Ewe weavers on narrow looms by men (eastern Ghana).
Around Kpetoe, weaving follows the Ashanti style. Whatever the region though, special cloths are woven for chiefs and elders, with floating weft motifs being introduced into the warp-faced blocks. Knives, hands (what we have we hold), keys (to the castle), chief's fly whisks and even musical instruments are typical. Each has a proverbial meaning.
Ewe women's keta cloth, woven in eastern Ghana. The variegated effect in the weft-faced blocks is achieved by twisting two differently coloured cotton filaments together to form the weft thread.
The Ewer weavers use the same technique as the Ashanti (see below). They sit in a carpenter-made frame loom with foot treadles operating two pairs of heddles. If any floating weft work is required, it is added by hand. The weaver often works from a drawing on paper.
Adanudo Ewe man's prestigious stripwoven cloth with fine supplementary weft details. (Kpetoe district, eastern Ghana).
One distinguishing feature of Ewe weaving is the way that the threads used for the weft-faced blocks are often made up of filaments of two or more different colours twisted together, which gives a variegated effect.
Ewe cloths consist of 16-24 strips, cut to size, then sewn, selvedge to selvedge. Both weaving and sewing are done by men.
Adanudo Ewe man's stripwoven cloth with silk supplementary weft details depicting such symbols from royalty as the stool, the fly-whisk and the crown (eastern Ghana).
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series:
Diversity of African Textiles
African Textiles: West Africa
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part II
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part III
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV
Djerma Weaving of Niger and Burkina-Faso
Woolen Stripweaves of the Niger Bend
Nigerian Horizontal - Loom Weaving
Yoruba Lace Weave
Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete
African Tie and Dye
Tie and Dye of the Dida, Ivory Coast
African Stitch Resist
Yoruba Stitch Resist
Introduction[1]
Ewe weavers are acknowledged to be some of the most skilful in West Africa. Indeed, they are in such demand that they can found to be working as far away as Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria. Versatile and adaptable, they weave in three areas of south-east Ghana: at Abbozume and around the Geta lagoon; at Kpetoe; and up around K[andu. Although examples of Ewe's work can be seen across the border in Togo and with their relatives the Son in Benin - both weave in a similar style with the best work probably in Ghana.
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV[1]
Traditionally, the Ewe have always woven in cotton, though nowadays much of their production is in rayon, in strips, following the Ashanti style for export to the Afro-American market.
What distinguishes traditional Ewe weaving from that of the Ashanti is the use of cotton rather than silk or rayon and the introduction of floating weft patterns of a figurative nature into some of the warp-faced sections of strip. Much Ewe work is plain chequered cloth made up of strips sewn selvedge to selvedge, with warp-faced blocks alternating with weft-faced blocks in each strip, as is the case around the Geta lagoon.
Around Kpetoe, weaving follows the Ashanti style. Whatever the region though, special cloths are woven for chiefs and elders, with floating weft motifs being introduced into the warp-faced blocks. Knives, hands (what we have we hold), keys (to the castle), chief's fly whisks and even musical instruments are typical. Each has a proverbial meaning.
The Ewer weavers use the same technique as the Ashanti (see below). They sit in a carpenter-made frame loom with foot treadles operating two pairs of heddles. If any floating weft work is required, it is added by hand. The weaver often works from a drawing on paper.
One distinguishing feature of Ewe weaving is the way that the threads used for the weft-faced blocks are often made up of filaments of two or more different colours twisted together, which gives a variegated effect.
Ewe cloths consist of 16-24 strips, cut to size, then sewn, selvedge to selvedge. Both weaving and sewing are done by men.
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
No comments:
Post a Comment