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Preview image of work. cloth, indigo,  Àdìrẹ Cloth with Oloba (Coronation or Jubilee) Design 28300

2014.31.18

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Àdìrẹ Cloth with Oloba (Coronation or Jubilee) Design

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Artists

Artist Unidentified (Yorùbá) [formerly attributed to Artist Unidentified (Nigerian)];

Title

Àdìrẹ Cloth with Oloba (Coronation or Jubilee) Design

Creation Date

1900-1961

Century

mid-20th century

Dimensions

62 x 72 in. (157.48 x 182.88 cm)

Object Type

textile/natural fiber

Creation Place

West Africa, Nigeria

Medium and Support

cloth, indigo

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

2014.31.18

Yorùbá women in southwest Nigeria are renowned for creating àdìrẹ cloth, or indigo-dyed textiles decorated using resist-dyeing techniques. The earliest examples of àdìrẹ were created on handspun and handwoven cotton cloth, requiring a significant investment of labor. By the early 1900s, the widespread import of European shirting material into West Africa created opportunities for entrepreneurial women to establish the production of àdìrẹ cloth as a cottage industry. This example uses imported green cotton fabric as a base for the stenciled pattern, which is popularly known as the oloba motif. Featuring two royal individuals in a cartouche, these commemorative textiles first emerged in 1935 to honor the silver jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary. Here, a more traditionally attired West African couple occupies the scene, demonstrating how textiles continue to communicate political events and power dynamics among the Yorùbá.

Object Description

Donor's Notes (Transcribed by Curator, Joachim Homann): Adire stenciled on imported green cotton cloth. Design called coronation, jubille or oloba. Date 1962 printed in design of stencil. Design older than that.