Akwete Cloth

• Title Akwete Cloth
• Category Textile
• Medium Textile
• Dimensions 45"h x 78"w
• Framed Dimensions 45"h x 78"w
• Year Completed undated
• Description Multi-Colored
• Notes This textile is multicolored with reds, yellows, whites, blacks, and greens. The checkerboard pattern, one of the most common, is combined with dot and tortoise motifs. Cloth that bears the tortoise design called ikakibite, was the initial type of cloth brought to the Bonny, Nigeria area*. Ikaki, the Rivers State term meaning tortoise, is cloth worn by royalty that bears the symbol of the tortoise who is a wise and cunning creature associated with chieftaincy. Like the other Akwete cloths in the collection, this cloth has fringed edges and geometric designs with a focus on line*. The cloth is woven in the village of Akwete by women. It is also commonly worn by said women as wrappers or shawls. The looms used to create these cloths are often crude and made of rough poles. The frame loom stands upright and has a continuous warp. Akwete cloth can be up to 150 centimeters wide or wider, which is accommodated for by the loom. An Akwete woman is estimated to produce from two to four cloths in a month. Similarities in motifs come from Akwete women’s ability and familiarity with copying from prototypes. These types of cloth were widespread, primarily among the Rivers State communities, due to the large amount of trade occurring in this region. Cloth is significant in ceremonies, such as a girl’s coming of age and death ceremonies. It is also of note that Akwete cloth is wider on one end than the other, which is either a result of unavoidable technical production, or as an aesthetic choice to ensure the inside end of the wrapper does not show outside the outer layer. * Marian Davis, “Akwete Cloth and Its Motifs.” (African Arts, vol.7, no. 3, 194), 22-25. *Lisa Aronson, “Patronage and Akwete Weaving.” (African arts, vol.13, no. 3, 1980), 62-91.
• Artist Igbo People Nigerian
• Credit Clyde and Annie Matters Collection
• Location Library Art Storage H1
• Accession Number 1994.0019
• Status Available Request this art work
  
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