Woman's Shawl or Head Covering (1900–1925): Art, History and Details
Woman's Shawl or Head Covering at the Cleveland Museum of Art: 1900–1925, Cotton, silk, indigo and other natural dyes. Explore the work's context, creator attribution and collection history.
Woman's Shawl or Head Covering (1900–1925) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.
The work and its context
The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:
A woman would have worn this embroidered textile on her head or her shoulders, with the motifs on her back. It was likely adorned by itinerant Hausa embroiderers, whose knowledge as Koranic scholars inflected their work with a symbolic and calligraphic style. The large, almond-shaped forms may represent lotus leaves or may have links to Islamic talismanic motifs or amulets (hatumere).
Object facts
- Title: Woman's Shawl or Head Covering
- Date: 1900–1925
- Culture: Africa, West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Hausa or Dyula-style, unknown makers
- Type: Textile
- Technique: Cotton, silk, indigo and other natural dyes
- Dimensions: Overall: 150.5 x 120.7 cm (59 1/4 x 47 1/2 in.)
- Collection: African Art
- Department: African Art
- Accession number: 2024.73
A detail from the museum
Only six examples of this rare textile are known.
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.
Sources
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