Blanket or Cover (Kaasa) (c. 1930s or earlier): Art, History and Details

Blanket or Cover (Kaasa) (c. 1930s or earlier) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Made on order, this blanket was hand woven in six strips that were sewn together at the selvages to make the full textile. Repeated named, symbolic geometric motifs in deep browns, blacks, and reds create an overall sense of rhythmic dynamism as naturally dyed colored floated weft (horizontal) threads dance in and out of the undyed cream-colored wool base textile. Some motifs have ties to Islam, as the Fulani were among the first West Africans to convert, or to nearby Tuareg cultures.

Object facts

• Title: Blanket or Cover (Kaasa)
• Date: c. 1930s or earlier
• Culture: Africa; West Africa; Mali, Niger, or Burkina Faso; Fulani (Peul) style; unknown weavers
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Wool, dye
• Dimensions: Overall: 217.8 x 126.4 cm (85 3/4 x 49 3/4 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2024.72

A detail from the museum

Weavers don’t make sketches to plan the design for this textile but recall it from memory instead.

Collection credit

Alma Kroeger Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.