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Francophone African Textile Gallery Part One |
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| On this first section of Francophone West African Textile
section we focus on Cote D'Ivoire, and feature an important group of
cloths from the north eastern part of Cote D'Ivoire, around the town of
Bondoukou. Stylistically and historically related to the well known Ewe
and Asante cloths of Ghana these distinctive early C20th cloths are
previously undocumented and hardly represented in existing collections.
The area around the town of Bondoukou where they were woven is quite
sparsely populated and the total number of such cloths produced must
have been very small. Already this year they have become noticeably
harder to obtain than in 2007. So we are dealing with a spectacular new
discovery in the field of African textiles, the availability of which
is very limited.
Bondoukou was an important weaving centre in the C18th and 19th and a key point on the old trade route linking the Asante capital of Kumase north-westwards through Kong to the trade of the Sahara and Sahel. It is an ethnically diverse town with Dioula, Abron, Kulango and other inhabitants. The significance of Bondoukou for the development of Asante weaving has been suggested by Cole and Ross (1977:38) who note in particular that it was a source for plain blue and white cloths imported by the Asante. Lamb (1980) notes that weft faced bands, called "babadua" were also woven at Bondoukou and illustrates two rather simple examples. However very little is known about the nature of weaving in the town itself. Although we have not as yet been able to go there and undertake any research due to the unstable situation in Côte D'Ivoire the cloths we have collected indicate both a highly sophisticated use of blue and white hand-spun cotton patterning, and perhaps more unexpectedly, the existence of at least one and perhaps more complex styles which are related to but distinctly different from Asante and Ewe kente weaving in Ghana. Among the features of this major style that differ from the Ghanaian are: a handspun cotton blue and white ground combined with imported machine spun cotton weft patterning; a preference for a linear alignment of designs across the cloth rather than alternate placing between adjacent strips; and a repertoire of float patterning that shades towards Baule, Guro, and Dioula motifs in central Côte D'Ivoire. A second style favours a more random placement of weft faced bands. These cloths were worn by chiefs and wealthy men and women of the Akan courts of the border region.
Kangah, king of the Agni, an Akan people to the south of Bondoukou, postcard circa 1920. For a more detailed introduction to these cloths see my article "The Cloth of Bondoukou" in the Autumn 2008 issue, number 157 of HALI magazine - available here
As with all our cloths we guarantee a full refund if you are not satisfied with any order. CLICK on the images for a bigger picture plus full details of size and condition for each cloth, together with ordering information. Please be patient as the images may take a minute to download.
(c) Duncan Clarke, Version 16/11/2009 |
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