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
Yoruba: Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth
Yoruba and Baulé Warp Ikat
Introduction
Yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic groups of Nigeria, concentrated in the southwestern part of that country. Much smaller, scattered groups live in Benin and northern Togo.
Yoruba.
The Yoruba are religiously diverse as well, with most following either Christianity or Islam, though traditional indigenous religions are observed by many. The city of Ile-Ife remains an important site for Yoruba cosmology, and is believed to be the point of origin for human life.
Ilé-Ifẹ̀ occupies a central place in Yoruba history and identity. It is claimed to be the harbinger of Yoruba civilisation. More than a thousand years old, Ilé-Ifẹ̀ is one of the oldest and longest-occupied cities in Africa. Ilé-Ifẹ̀ literally means “House of Abundance.”
Ilé-Ifẹ̀.
Yoruba Copper mask for King Obalufon, Ife, Nigeria ca. 1300 CE.
Yoruba Stitch Resist [1]
The Yoruba are masters of the indigo-dyeing process. They also have the most varied methods of applying resists to cloth. Etu are cloths with Guinea-fowl pattern, where the tied or stitched resists are unpicked, but the cloth is neither washed or ironed, leaving the hillocks of the resists to give a snake-like appearance. The Yoruba term for stitched resist in idigo is adire alabere.
Detail of a Yoruba adire alabere, stitched-resist, indigo-dyed woman's wrap, south-west Nigeria. The fine resist stitchery is worked so as to show up the pattern against the light.
Detail of a Yoruba, stitched-resist, indigo-dyed, woman's wrap, south-west Nigeria. Decorated with the 'Tribal Marks with Fingers.'
Detail of an adire alabere. The stitched resist was of raphia thread, removed with a razor blade.
In the past, the adire alabere technique was worked on handwoven cloth; nowadays, however, it is almost invariably used on readily available mill-made cotton shirting, usually white, but some times patterned. In the latter case, the ground pattern appears in the resist sewn areas against the indigo-dyed background.
Adire alabere. Stitched resist and dyed in synthetic indigo.
Yoruba woman's wrap. Strips of mill cloth have been resist sewn with raphia thread, dyed blue, then unpicked. The strips have then been sewn together, selvedge to selvedge, to give the impression of prestigious and more expensive strip woven cloth.
Yoruba women fold and pleat cloth in numerous ways before stitching in a resist. An interesting variation, which imitates stripwoven cloth, is to take strips of mill cloth, stitch a resist into them, dye them indigo and then, when they are unpicked, sew them up, selvedge to selvedge. Raphia thread is the most common form of resist. The Yoruba have many different adire alabere designs, which are given such names as 'Plantain,' 'Cocoa,' 'Tribal Marks,' and 'Fingers.'
Adire alabere, Yoruba, stitched-resist, indigo-dyed, woman's wrap. south-west Nigeria.
A Nigerian chief.
The same basic technique for stitched resist is employed by the Yoruba. However, raphia is preferred for the resist, not only because of its strength, but also because of the ease with which it can be cut out without causing any damage.
Adire alabere, Yoruba, stitched-resist, indigo-dyed, woman's wrap, south-west Nigeria.
An unusually fine stitched-resist adire alabere. The clock motif is a rare innovation in design.
Yoruba adire alabere. The stitch-resist pattern is worked so that it looks like expensive imported damask cloth.
Yoruba etu cloth. The indigo-dyed, stitched-resist patterns are so fine that the cloth is never washed or ironed.
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
Yoruba: Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth
Yoruba and Baulé Warp Ikat
Introduction
Yoruba, one of the three largest ethnic groups of Nigeria, concentrated in the southwestern part of that country. Much smaller, scattered groups live in Benin and northern Togo.
The Yoruba are religiously diverse as well, with most following either Christianity or Islam, though traditional indigenous religions are observed by many. The city of Ile-Ife remains an important site for Yoruba cosmology, and is believed to be the point of origin for human life.
Ilé-Ifẹ̀ occupies a central place in Yoruba history and identity. It is claimed to be the harbinger of Yoruba civilisation. More than a thousand years old, Ilé-Ifẹ̀ is one of the oldest and longest-occupied cities in Africa. Ilé-Ifẹ̀ literally means “House of Abundance.”
Yoruba Stitch Resist [1]
The Yoruba are masters of the indigo-dyeing process. They also have the most varied methods of applying resists to cloth. Etu are cloths with Guinea-fowl pattern, where the tied or stitched resists are unpicked, but the cloth is neither washed or ironed, leaving the hillocks of the resists to give a snake-like appearance. The Yoruba term for stitched resist in idigo is adire alabere.
In the past, the adire alabere technique was worked on handwoven cloth; nowadays, however, it is almost invariably used on readily available mill-made cotton shirting, usually white, but some times patterned. In the latter case, the ground pattern appears in the resist sewn areas against the indigo-dyed background.
Yoruba women fold and pleat cloth in numerous ways before stitching in a resist. An interesting variation, which imitates stripwoven cloth, is to take strips of mill cloth, stitch a resist into them, dye them indigo and then, when they are unpicked, sew them up, selvedge to selvedge. Raphia thread is the most common form of resist. The Yoruba have many different adire alabere designs, which are given such names as 'Plantain,' 'Cocoa,' 'Tribal Marks,' and 'Fingers.'
The same basic technique for stitched resist is employed by the Yoruba. However, raphia is preferred for the resist, not only because of its strength, but also because of the ease with which it can be cut out without causing any damage.
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
No comments:
Post a Comment