Wrapper

This wrapper has been hand-woven on the traditional Igbo Akwete woman’s vertical loom with machine spun cotton yarns and lurex. As is usual on Akwete cloths, the design motifs in this example are created by a supplementary weft structure on a warp-face plain-weave ground. The white and Lurex ground is enhanced with multi-colored patterns. Three vertical parallel bands with green, red and black, frame each end. In the central section, clusters of green, yellow, and red chevrons, zigzags, dots and lozenge are aligned vertically, three by three.

This work represents a classic textile genre designed, woven, and worn by Igbo women in one of Nigeria's premier centers for textile weaving. Textiles are one of the preeminent forms of visual expression in sub-Saharan Africa, and Akwete weavers have had an important impact on the region at large. Their frequently elaborate and complex supplementary weft-float patterns are of particular interest for their variety, incorporating abstract geometric and figurative motifs.