ANTIQUE ADIRE ELESO VARIATION ON THE THREEPENCE PATTERN

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Adire is the name given to indigo-dyed cloth produced by Yoruba women of southwestern Nigeria using a variety of resist dye techniques. Adire translates as tie- and-dye, and the earliest cloths were probably simple tied designs on locally-woven hand-spun cotton cloth much like those still produced in Mali. In the early decades of the twentieth century however, the new access to large quantities of imported shirting material made possible by the spread of European textile merchants in certain Yoruba towns, notably Abeokuta, enabled women dyers to become both artists and entrepreneurs in a booming new medium. New techniques of resist-dyeing were developed, most notably the practice of hand-painting designs on the cloth with a cassava starch paste prior to dyeing. This was known as adire eleko. Another method called adire eleso was to use sewn raffia, sometimes in combination with tied sections, while other cloths were simply folded repeatedly and tied or stitched in place. In the 1920s and 30s adire was a major local craft in the towns of Abeokuta and Ibadan, attracting buyers from all over West Africa. The more complex and beautiful starch resist designs continued to be produced until the early 1970s. Today simplified stenciled designs and some better quality tie-and-die and starch-resist designs are still produced; but good examples read more

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