West Africa, southwestern Nigeria, Yoruba, ca. 1920. Hand woven from raw silk (sanyan) of warm beige hues with painstakingly created eyelet details and a beautiful pattern of slender deep indigo blue striations bordering wider sky blue bands, this is an outstanding ashoke (aso oke) cloth of the Yoruba people. What sets an aso oke textile like this apart is not only its striking aesthetic but also the investment of time and skill involved in creating it. A raw silk ashoke (also called sanyan) like this piece required that thousands of moth cocoons be collected and their silk delicately unraveled and spun into thread. In addition, great care and special techniques went into ensuring that the threads be colorfast so that they would not damage the lighter colored threads when washed. What's more, hand-spun deep indigo colored threads needed to be dyed numerous times - as many as fourteen - in order to achieve the deep blues desired. Size: 108" L x 62.75" W (274.3 cm x 159.4 cm)
Provenance: Poos Collection, Overland Park, Kansas, USA - One of the largest privately held quilt and textile collections in the world, the Poos Collection has evolved over 50 years and through extensive travels to allow for original or point of source acquisition. The collection includes international textiles and garments with an emphasis on West African textiles such as adire, aso oke, kente, and ewe woven prestige cloths.
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#145215
Condition
Textile is created from 26 sewn together panels (seams are visible on the verso). Only slight fraying to edges and a few minor stains. Otherwise superb.