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
Yoruba and Baulé Warp Ikat
Ikat is the process whereby threads are tie-dyed before weaving takes place. When the cloth is woven, any section of the cloth where the threads have been previously ikat-dyed will have a rather frayed pattern in the color of the undyed thread against the dyed background. The ikat process can be applied to warp or weft or both. It is only warp ikat, though, that is used, albeit sparingly, in West Africa.
North Ghanaian stripwoven 'country cloth.'
Section of a cotton warp-ikat woman's wrap, Baulé people.
There are no records of African weft, double or compound ikat, but both the Baulé of the Ivory Coast and the Yoruba use warp-ikat details in some of their strip weaves. The technique was practiced at one time in parts of Ghana and by present-day northern Edo women in Igarra, Nigeria. It is used sparingly, though the color range can vary. However, white warp threads are often simply tied and then dip-dyed in indigo. The Yoruba use warp strips of alternate colors to create contrasts in their 'country' cloths. In the Ivory Coast around Tiébissou, Dioula dyers tie-dye patterns into warp threads for Baulé weavers. The resulting warp-ikat textiles can be more complex than those of the Yoruba, though they usually also keep to a blue-and-white color scheme.
One of these Baulé cloths was found as a backing for a Central Asian ikat- evidence of the trade that co-exists with Haj pilgramage to Mecca.
Igarra stripwoven cotton woman's cloth with warp-like details (Nigeria).
Baulé man's cloth.
One of these Baulé cloths was found as a backing for a Central Asian ikat - evidence of the trade that co-exists with Haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Yoruba stripwoven "country cloth' with simple warp ikat details in alternate strips.
Yoruba stripwoven cotton cloth with warp-ikat details.
The warp-ikat method gives the textile a pattern by tying resists tightly around the warp threads that have been stretched out on a frame. The tied hanks are then immersed in a dye-bath. Warp ikat in West Africa is often plain blue and white. If the original white thread is placed in an indigo dye-bath to give blue, the tied portions make a white pattern against a blue ground. When the dyeing process is finished, the dyed warp is woven with a plain colored weft to create a warp-faced, patterned textile.
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
Yoruba and Baulé Warp Ikat
Ikat is the process whereby threads are tie-dyed before weaving takes place. When the cloth is woven, any section of the cloth where the threads have been previously ikat-dyed will have a rather frayed pattern in the color of the undyed thread against the dyed background. The ikat process can be applied to warp or weft or both. It is only warp ikat, though, that is used, albeit sparingly, in West Africa.
There are no records of African weft, double or compound ikat, but both the Baulé of the Ivory Coast and the Yoruba use warp-ikat details in some of their strip weaves. The technique was practiced at one time in parts of Ghana and by present-day northern Edo women in Igarra, Nigeria. It is used sparingly, though the color range can vary. However, white warp threads are often simply tied and then dip-dyed in indigo. The Yoruba use warp strips of alternate colors to create contrasts in their 'country' cloths. In the Ivory Coast around Tiébissou, Dioula dyers tie-dye patterns into warp threads for Baulé weavers. The resulting warp-ikat textiles can be more complex than those of the Yoruba, though they usually also keep to a blue-and-white color scheme.
One of these Baulé cloths was found as a backing for a Central Asian ikat- evidence of the trade that co-exists with Haj pilgramage to Mecca.
One of these Baulé cloths was found as a backing for a Central Asian ikat - evidence of the trade that co-exists with Haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
The warp-ikat method gives the textile a pattern by tying resists tightly around the warp threads that have been stretched out on a frame. The tied hanks are then immersed in a dye-bath. Warp ikat in West Africa is often plain blue and white. If the original white thread is placed in an indigo dye-bath to give blue, the tied portions make a white pattern against a blue ground. When the dyeing process is finished, the dyed warp is woven with a plain colored weft to create a warp-faced, patterned textile.
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
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