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Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 3 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, indigo, 37 x 57 ½ in. (94 x 146 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-050, Photograph by Ron Kerner.

Ndop Textile Panels — Process

Artist Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom
Year 20th century
Creation Place Cameroon
Medium Cloth, raffia, indigo
Collection Mingei International Museum
Credit Line Gifts of Leslie Grace
Accession Number 2022-044-031, 2022-044-050-051

These three textiles demonstrate the stages of creating an Ndop textile—an indigo-dyed prestige cloth associated with the royal and elite families of the Bamileke Kingdom in Cameroon. The first cloth demonstrates the tight stitching with thread made from the raffia palm. Areas that are stitched will not allow indigo to adhere to the handwoven, cotton fabric. The second textile illustrates what stitched fabric looks like after it emerges from the dye vat–it is blue, but still tightly stitched. The third fabric reveals the designs after the resist stitching is cut out.

Blue Gold Exhibition, Mingei International Museum, Photograph by Ron Kerner, 2024.
Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 1 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, 20 ½ x 50 in. (52 x 127 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-031, Photograph by Ron Kerner.
Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 2 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, indigo, 20 x 49 in. (51 x 124 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-051, Photograph by Ron Kerner.
Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 3 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, indigo, 37 x 57 ½ in. (94 x 146 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-050, Photograph by Ron Kerner.
Blue Gold Exhibition, Mingei International Museum, Photograph by Ron Kerner, 2024.
Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 1 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, 20 ½ x 50 in. (52 x 127 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-031, Photograph by Ron Kerner.
Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 2 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, indigo, 20 x 49 in. (51 x 124 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-051, Photograph by Ron Kerner.
Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 3 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, indigo, 37 x 57 ½ in. (94 x 146 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-050, Photograph by Ron Kerner.
Unidentified Maker, Bamileke Kingdom, Ndop Textile Panel 3 - Process, 20th century, Cameroon. Cloth, raffia, indigo, 37 x 57 ½ in. (94 x 146 cm). Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-050, Photograph by Ron Kerner.
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