West-Africa Market Rack

Indigo-dyed fabric is found throughout the continent of Africa but has particular importance in West Africa. Blue textile fragments have been found at iron-age sites in Mali and Burkina Faso, and ancient dye centers, such as the dye pits in Kano, Nigeria, were located on important trans-African trade routes. From Mauritania to Cameroon, indigo was and remains key to the way people dress and their very identities. At traditional markets, for example, Fulani women (who are herders) are easily identifiable by their deep blue clothing.

Royal and elite families of the Cameroon Grassfields are identified by the blue and white fabric which demarcates their official governing spaces and events. Colonial-era plantations in North, Central, South America, and the Caribbean, relied on African knowledge and expertise, as well as enslaved African labor, in cultivating, extracting, and dyeing indigo.

1. Baby Carrier
   Unidentified Maker, Bobo culture
   Unknown date
   Burkina Faso
   Cotton, indigo dye
   28 in. x 66 in. (71.12 cm x 167.64 cm)
   Gift of Forrest D. Colburn, 2013-07-002

2. Adire Oniko (Tie-Dyed Cloth)
   Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
   20th Century
   Nigeria
   Cotton, indigo dye
   114 in. x 68 in. (289.56 cm x 172.72 cm)
   Gift of Barb Rich, 2016-125-009

3. Adire Eleko (Cassava Paste Resist-Dyed Cloth)
   Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
   20th century
   Nigeria
   Cloth, indigo dye
   69 ½ x 72 in. (176.53 x 182.88 cm)
   Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-047

4. Pagne (Wrap Skirt)
   Unidentified Maker
   20th century
   Ivory Coast
   Cloth, indigo dye
   43 x 60 in. (109.22 x 152.4 cm)
   Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-056

5. Kente (Wrapper)
   Unidentified Maker, Akan culture group
   20th century
   Ghana
   Cotton, indigo dye
   67 ½ x 44 in. (171.45 x 111.76 cm)
   Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-055

6. Adire Eleko (Cassava Paste Resist-Dyed Cloth)
   Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
   20th century
   Nigeria
   Cotton, indigo dye
   100 x 160 in. (254 x 406.4 cm)
   Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-046

7. Textile Panel
   Unidentified Maker
   20th century
   Nigeria
   Cotton, indigo dye
   23 x 81 in. (58.42 x 205.74 cm)
   Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-053

8. Textile Panel
   Unidentified Maker
   20th century
   Nigeria
   Cotton, indigo dye
   32 ½ x 76 in. (82.55 x 193.04 cm)
   Gift of Leslie Grace, 2022-044-054

9. Textile Panel
   Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
   20th century
   Nigeria
   Cotton, indigo dye
   72 x 26 in. (182.88 x 66.04 cm)
   Gift of R.L. Shep, 2001-01-085

10. Textile Panel
    Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
    About 1940s
    Nigeria
    Cotton, indigo dye
    32 ½ x 33 in. (82.55 x 83.82 cm)
    Gift of R.L. Shep, 2001-01-083

11. Textile Panel
    Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
    About 1940s
    Nigeria
    Cotton, indigo dye
    32 x 32 in. (81.28 x 81.28 cm)
    Gift of R.L. Shep, 2001-01-082

12. Textile Panel
    Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
    About 1940s
    Nigeria
    Cotton, indigo dye
    56 x 32 ½ in. (142.24 cm x 82.55 cm)
    Gift of R.L. Shep, 2001-01-084

13. Wrapper
    Unidentified Maker, Yoruba culture
    20th century
    Nigeria
    Cotton, indigo dye
    74 x 67 ½ in. (187.96 x 171.45 cm)
    Gift of Barb Rich, 2016-125-012

14. Wrapper
    Unidentified Maker, Baule culture
    20th century
    Ivory Coast
    Cotton, indigo dye
    41 x 58 in. (104.14 x 147.32 cm)
    Bequest of William Gregory LaChapelle, 2011-24-016