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
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete [1]
Though Ijebu-Ode in Yorubaland and Igbo tow of Akwete are over 400 km (250 miles) apart, there is a strong connection between textiles in these two places. Women weave on a continuous warped, vertical loom and decorate their textiles with very similar patterns worked in the weft-float technique. Ijebu-Ode was historically an important town, both for the internal and external market. The Ijebu Yoruba specialize in weaving a cloth that is known in the Niger Delta as ikaki - meaning the 'cloth of the tortoise.' Consisting of three or four strips, sewn selvedge to selvedge, it was often traded eastwards to people of the Niger Delta. It was traded in the town of Ndoki and in the mid-19th century, copies started to be made by Igbo women weavers in the nearby village of Akwete. Traditionally woven in darker colors, nowadays red, blue, green, purple and black have become popular.
Man's cloth from Ijebu-Ode decorated with the ikaki tortoise pattern.
A woman's wrap from Akwete, decorated with the ikaki tortoise pattern. The motif was copied from Ijebu-Ode cloths traded into that area.
The Akwete cloths are mainly used as women's wraps in pairs. Akwete women weave a wide variety of fancy, decorated rayon cloth, mostly for ceremonial and ritual use in the Niger Delta. However, the largest centre for this type of weaving today is Okene, where Ebira women weave narrower rayon cloth for non-ritual use in such cities as Lagos.
Akwete: Igbo traditional textile, made In Nigeria.
The women of Akwete weave on an upright wall loom, forming a cloth about 100 to 127 cm (or 40 to 50 inches) wide. The Akwete loom is the widest in Nigeria. Usually the warp is continuous, which gives an evenly colored background for the weave. Blended, or shot effects, can occasonally be gained by mixing the colors of the warps, or using a contrasting color for the ground weft.
Akwete fabric.
On single-faced fabrics (on which the motif only shows on one side), weft floaters are woven in using the swivel inlay technique. The ground is a low twist yarn, basket weave, usually of cotton. The decorative weft floaters are of low twist cotton, silk or rayon. The thread is bought already dyed. The decorative weft not used on one line of the base weft is carried up to the next row, often on a diagonal, hence outlining the motive. As the warp is continuous, the finished length of the cloth is twice the height of the loom. Owing to the uneven tension, the cloths tend to be longer on one side than the other, and one end is wider than the other.
Igbo Weaving & Akwete Fabric.
Akwete cloths held in the British Museum.
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
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete [1]
Though Ijebu-Ode in Yorubaland and Igbo tow of Akwete are over 400 km (250 miles) apart, there is a strong connection between textiles in these two places. Women weave on a continuous warped, vertical loom and decorate their textiles with very similar patterns worked in the weft-float technique. Ijebu-Ode was historically an important town, both for the internal and external market. The Ijebu Yoruba specialize in weaving a cloth that is known in the Niger Delta as ikaki - meaning the 'cloth of the tortoise.' Consisting of three or four strips, sewn selvedge to selvedge, it was often traded eastwards to people of the Niger Delta. It was traded in the town of Ndoki and in the mid-19th century, copies started to be made by Igbo women weavers in the nearby village of Akwete. Traditionally woven in darker colors, nowadays red, blue, green, purple and black have become popular.
The Akwete cloths are mainly used as women's wraps in pairs. Akwete women weave a wide variety of fancy, decorated rayon cloth, mostly for ceremonial and ritual use in the Niger Delta. However, the largest centre for this type of weaving today is Okene, where Ebira women weave narrower rayon cloth for non-ritual use in such cities as Lagos.
The women of Akwete weave on an upright wall loom, forming a cloth about 100 to 127 cm (or 40 to 50 inches) wide. The Akwete loom is the widest in Nigeria. Usually the warp is continuous, which gives an evenly colored background for the weave. Blended, or shot effects, can occasonally be gained by mixing the colors of the warps, or using a contrasting color for the ground weft.
On single-faced fabrics (on which the motif only shows on one side), weft floaters are woven in using the swivel inlay technique. The ground is a low twist yarn, basket weave, usually of cotton. The decorative weft floaters are of low twist cotton, silk or rayon. The thread is bought already dyed. The decorative weft not used on one line of the base weft is carried up to the next row, often on a diagonal, hence outlining the motive. As the warp is continuous, the finished length of the cloth is twice the height of the loom. Owing to the uneven tension, the cloths tend to be longer on one side than the other, and one end is wider than the other.
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
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