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Woman's Àdìrẹ Wrapper

A work made of cotton, plain weave; resist-dyed; two panels joined.

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  • A work made of cotton, plain weave; resist-dyed; two panels joined.

Date:

1970s

Artist:

Yoruba
Nigeria

About this artwork

These adire, or “tie-dyed,” textiles—both woman’s wraps or skirts—were produced by tightly sewing together parts of a cotton fabric that would resist color during an indigo dye bath. The artists used a needle and raffia strings or cotton threads, some of which are still visible, to sew the pleats together. They also employed a technique in which pebbles are sewn into the fabric to create the vibrant chain-like effect. From the early 20th century through the 1970s, adire textiles were the domestic cloth of Yoruba women, created by them and worn as skirts in urban centers such as Abeokuta and Ibadan. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, imported dyes and machine-made cotton cloth with floral patterns replaced adire as the newest fashion.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Textiles

Culture

Yoruba

Title

Woman's Àdìrẹ Wrapper

Place

Nigeria (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1970–1979

Medium

Cotton, plain weave; resist-dyed; two panels joined

Dimensions

194.2 × 161.7 cm (76 1/2 × 63 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Deborah Stokes and Jeffrey Hammer

Reference Number

1983.763

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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