2014.31.19
Àdìrẹ Eleso Cloth
Artists
Artist Unidentified (Yorùbá)
[
formerly attributed to
Artist Unidentified (Nigerian)];
Title
Àdìrẹ Eleso Cloth
Creation Date
1900-1961
Century
20th century
Dimensions
64 x 71 in. (162.56 x 180.34 cm)
Object Type
textile/natural fiber
Creation Place
West Africa, Nigeria
Medium and Support
cotton, thread, indigo dye
Credit Line
Gift of Dorothy A. Hassfeld made in memory of the Otun Shoun, Chief N.D. Oyerinde, OBE
Copyright
This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s
Copyright Terms and Conditions.
Accession Number
2014.31.19
Yorùbá women have created àdìrẹ (Yoruba for “tie and dye”) for at least two hundred years. These indigo-dyed textiles were embellished with various resist-dye techniques, including the two seen in this example, known as oniko and eleko. In the former, artists tie raffia around individual pebbles, shells, beans, or seeds to create small white circles. Here, the dyer has used oniko to create undulating, zig-zagging, or spiraling lines of miniscule crescent shapes in alternating squares. In the other blocks, the dyer painted cassava paste onto the fabric to create a pattern, possibly with the aid of a metal stencil. Although Yorùbá textile traditions continue to evolve, indigo dyeing has been practiced for at least seven centuries in Nigeria, which is home to some of the oldest indigo dye pits in the world.
Object Description
Donor's Notes (Transcribed by Curator, Joachim Homann): Raffia threads emaining in fabric. Complex design on imprinted white fabric.
Additional Media
overall