One of a pair of shawls (Lamba Landy Fotsy) (1900s): Art, History and Details

One of a pair of shawls (Lamba Landy Fotsy) (1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

A lamba is an untailored textile worn by all ages, classes, and genders across much of Madagascar. This is an example of a woman’s garment made after Queen Ranavalona II made Christianity the state religion of the Merina Kingdom. Soon after, all-white lamba became popular for both Sunday church and daily wear. Fotsy is white in the Malagasy language. Indicating its owner’s worldliness, the white-on-white patterns alluded to fashionable imported textiles with damask patterns.

Object facts

• Title: One of a pair of shawls (Lamba Landy Fotsy)
• Date: 1900s
• Culture: unknown weaver (French Madagascar or Malagasy Republic), Merina style
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk
• Dimensions: Part 2: 61 x 213 cm (24 x 83 7/8 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2025.273.2

A detail from the museum

Invented in the mid-1800s, shawls like this were popular until about 2000.

Collection credit

Sundry Art - African Art Fund and Textile 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.