Man's Wrapper
Nigeria, Yoruba peoples
Fisrt quarter of 20th century
Cotton, indigo and madder dyed, Ikat technique
102 x 65 inches (259 x 165 cm)
This rare man's cloth is entirely woven of cotton and was probably made by 1920.
The British Museum has a similar cloth though with the red areas being woven in magenta dyed silk (alari silk) which was traded from north Africa. (The Essential Art of African Textiles Design Without End, by Alisa LaGamma and Christine Giuntini, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009, page 54-55)
It would have been a luxury commodity worn either as a wraparound cloth or made into a gown.