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Boubou Tilbi

Before 1962
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Known as tilbi, this genre of boubou is identified by the white or light blue cotton ground onto which intricate motifs are painstakingly embroidered with imported beige silk thread. Worn only by the elite of Jenne and Timbuktu, the tilbi, with its delicate stitching and complex patterns, was a symbol of wealth and luxury.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Boubou Tilbi
  • Date: Before 1962
  • Geography: Mali, Central Mali
  • Medium: Cotton, silk
  • Dimensions: W. 49 × D. (approx.) 10 × L. 88 in. (124.5 × 25.4 × 223.5 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Costumes
  • Credit Line: Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Paris (73.1963.0.951)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing