About this artwork
This blanket was made by stitching nine strips of cotton together—a standard technique used by the Dogon people to create the shroud used in funerary rituals for an important man or woman. The wrapped body would be displayed in the courtyard of the deceased for six days as a tribute. Blankets constructed in this way were also worn as prestige wrappers by elders among the nomadic Fulani, pastoralists who range across northern and western Africa.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Textiles
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Culture
- Dogon
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Title
- Blanket
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Place
- Mali (Object made in)
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Date
- Made 1925–1975
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Medium
- Pieced of nine strips of cotton; plain weave with bands of supplementary patterning wefts
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Dimensions
- 308.8 × 163.2 cm (121 1/2 × 64 1/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Gil and Roda Graham
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Reference Number
- 2002.536