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 patterns are created by white and Lurex ground with lozenge and double arrow motifs.

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 both abstract geometric and figurative motifs.