Lomasa

Late 18th–early 19th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Nineteenth-century Segu was identified across the Sahel with the lomasa, a term that translates simply as “clothing dyed a dark color.” This genre of untailored male luxury garment is defined by a lavish use of indigo-dyed cotton accentuated with a flourish of dazzling embroidery. Dyed by women, the stitched detail was applied by male specialists using imported colored silk threads. While the original significance of the abstract curvilinear designs is unknown, the spiral that is always on the garment’s right side is thought to be related to the serpent in ancient Ghana’s Wagadu epic.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Lomasa
Date: Late 18th–early 19th century
Geography: Mali, Segu region
Medium: Cotton, dye
Dimensions: W. 96 7/16 × D. 13/16 × L. 51 15/16 in. (245 × 2 × 132 cm)
Classification: Textiles-Costumes
Credit Line: Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Paris (71.1930.54.189 D)
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing