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Kingdoms of Madagascar: Malagasy Textile Arts

• 
  Amulet (Mohara Ody), 20th century
  Madagascar; Menabe, Sakalava peoples
  Horn (buffalo), wood, glass, beads, fiber; H. 5 1/2 in. (13.97 cm)
  Gift of Irwin and Marcia Hersey, 1995 (1995.549)
  
• 
  Raffia Wrapper, 20th century
  Madagascar; Malagasy
  Raffia palm fiber; L. 76 1/2 in. (194.31 cm)
  Bequest of John B. Elliot, 1997 (1999.47.114)
  
• 
  Textile Mantle, 1998
  Martin Rakotoarimanana (Malagasy, born 1963)
  Madagascar
  Silk; 108 x 70 1/8 in. (274.3 x 178.1 cm)
  Purchase, Rogers Fund and William B. Goldstein Gift, 1999 (1999.102)
  

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A principle reason why African and European merchants were attracted to Madagascar were the high-quality cotton, raffia, and silk textiles produced by indigenous artisans. Far from mere trade commodities, however, textiles were an essential aspect of Malagasy social and ethnic identity, and some types of cloth were imbued with supernatural powers. The Sakalava, Mahafaly, and Merina were three Malagasy cultures for which textiles played an important role in statecraft and metaphysical belief systems. Sakalava master weavers created a dyed raffia cloth called laimasaka ("cooked tapestry"). This material served a range of purposes, from the functional to the ceremonial. Impressively large pieces were used as tents and room dividers, while finely woven, elaborately decorated cloths served as clothing and burial shrouds (1999.47.114). Sakalava and Mahafaly weavers also used cotton, cultivated in Madagascar since the sixteenth century, to create textiles. A seventeenth-century engraving by Olfert Dapper, a Dutchman who compiled travel lore, portrays two nobles of "Manghabei" (probably the Menabé kingdom) wearing such cloth fashioned into shoulder and waist wrappers. While the details of the cloth's use and appearance may not be entirely accurate, this image illustrates the important role it played in Sakalava society and the favorable impression most contemporary Europeans had of its appearance, quality, and comfort. Cotton thread was also thought to have special curative powers, and healers used it for ritual purposes or combined it with other materials to make protective charms (1995.549).

Far from mere trade commodities, textiles were an essential aspect of Malagasy social and ethnic identity, and some types of cloth were imbued with supernatural powers.

Related

Cited Works of Art or Images (2)

• 
• 

Timelines (3)

• Southern Africa, 1600–1800 a.d.
• Southern Africa, 1800–1900 a.d.
• Southern Africa, 1900 a.d.–present

Primary Thematic Essays (2)

• Kingdoms of Madagascar: Malagasy Funerary Arts
• Kingdoms of Madagascar: Maroserana and Merina

Other Thematic Essays (5)

• Asante Textile Arts
• Indian Textiles: Trade and Production
• Nineteenth-Century European Textile Production
• Textile Production in Europe: Embroidery, 1600-1800
• Trade Relations Among European and African Nations

Maps (2)

• Africa, 1600-1800 A.D.
• World, 1600-1800 A.D.

Index Terms (11)

Art Movement/Style

• Malagasy People of Southern Africa
• Sakalava Culture of Southern Africa

Artist

• Rakotoarimanana, Martin (Malagasy, born 1963)

Geography/Place

• Southern Africa

Material and Technique

• Cotton Textile
• Textile in Cotton from Africa and Egypt
• Textile in Plant Fiber
• Silk Textile

Object

• Men's Clothing
• Women's Clothing from Africa and Egypt

Subject Matter/Theme

• Trade (1600–1800 a.d.)

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Especially in the highlands region of the Merina kingdom, cocoons collected from the wild silkworm were unraveled and woven into highly valued textiles called lambda mena, meaning "red silk." In actuality, these cloths were woven in many color and pattern combinations (1999.102). Their "red" status stems from their links to regal prestige and ancestral authority, concepts that were associated with this color in Merina thought. Worn by the aristocracy in life, these textiles were also a focal point of burial, exhumation, and reburial ceremonies designed to free the dead person's spirit from earthly death and decay. Dapper also depicted a Malagasy funeral ceremony. In this engraving, relatives of the dead individual have wrapped the body in ornamental cloth and are in the process of depositing it in the tomb in the background of the picture. Various gifts, which will accompany the corpse, can be seen assembled in the left foreground.



Alexander Ives Bortolot Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University

Citation Bortolot, Alexander Ives. "Kingdoms of Madagascar: Malagasy Textile Arts". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/madg_3/hd_madg_3.htm (October 2003) Further Reading Green, Rebecca L. Once Is Never Enough: Textiles, Ancestors, and Reburials in Highland Madagascar. Bloomington: Indiana University Art Museum, 1998. Kusimba, Chapurukha M., et al., eds. Unwrapping the Textile Traditions of Madagascar. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 2004. Suggested Online Resources Gifts & Blessings: The Textile Arts of Madagascar Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)