This 'adire oniko' cloth, patterned with three large tie-dyed circles, was produced in West Africa by a female Yoruba indigo-dyer, during the 1950's or 1960's. Cloths like this were worn by either men or women, wrapped around the body and secured by twisting the ends of the cloth together. This is still the most common method of wearing adire cloths today. Since 1960 however, when Nigeria gained independence, the popularity of adire cloth has increased enormously. It is now also used for European style clothing and head-ties, while special cloths are made for religious celebrations. This particular example may have been created for personal use or to sell at the market.

'Adire' refers to a cloth that has been patterned by the technique of resist dyeing with indigo. 'Oniko' refers to the resist dyeing process of tying a pattern onto the cloth prior to dyeing. This effect can be achieved by pressing the finger through the cloth, and then tightly tying this area with cotton or raffia to prevent any dye from entering the area. Pebbles or seeds are also often used to create the same effect. During the dyeing process, the tied areas prevent the absorption of the indigo dye; the pattern is revealed when the ties are later removed.

The process of dyeing is lengthy, but essentially involves Yoruba women extracting dye from the leaves of the 'elu' (lonchocarpus cyanescens) vine, pounding them into a pulp and forming fist-sized balls of dyestuff. These are then mixed with a mordant (a metallic salt that acts as a dye fixative) extracted from ash prior to dyeing the cloth. This process was taught to their daughters from a very young age by Yoruba mothers. During the dyeing, women regularly made offerings to the Goddess Iya Mapo, who assisted them throughout the process. When the cloth was dry, it was placed over a flat log and beaten with a wooden mallet, a process that produced a high sheen on the cloth due to the large amounts of indigo dye used.

The cloth is part of a collection of West African textiles, spindles, hand spun yarn and a thorn carving collected in West Africa by Dr C Marion Petrie

Blue and white indigo-dyed "adire" cloth tie-dyed using the "adire oniko" dye-resist technique by Yoruba women. It was made in Western Nigeria in the 1950s or 1960s. "Adire" refers to a cloth that has been patterned by the technique of resist dyeing with indigo. Yoruba women extract dye from the 'elu' (lonchocarpus cyanescens) vine. After collecting the vine leaves, the women pounded the them into a pulp, and formed a fist-sized balls. The process of dyeing that followed was lengthy, but essentially involved extracting the dye stuff from the 'elu' leaves in this way, mixing it with a mordant (metallic salt dye fixative) extracted from ash, and then dyeing the cloth. This process was taught to their daughters from a very young age by Yoruba mothers. During the dyeing, women regularly made offerings to the Goddess Iya Mapo, who assisted them throughout the process.

This cloth is an example of an "adire oniko", "oniko" referring to the process of tying a pattern onto the cloth prior to dyeing. This effect can be achieved by pressing the finger through the cloth, and then tightly tying this area with cotton or raffia to prevent any dye from entering the area. Pebbles or seeds are also often used to create the same effect. During the dyeing process, the tied areas prevented the absorption of the indigo dye; the pattern was revealed when the ties were later removed. When the cloth was dry, it was placed over a flat log and beaten with a wooden mallet, a process that produced a high sheen on the cloth due to the large amounts of indigo dye used.

This 'adire oniko' cloth was produced in West Africa by a female Yoruba indigo-dyer, during the 1950's or 1960's. Cloths like this were worn by either men or women, wrapped around the body and secured by twisting the ends of the cloth together. This is still the most common method of wearing adire cloths today. Since 1960 however, when Nigeria gained independence, the popularity of adire cloth has increased enormously. It is now also used for European style clothing and head-ties, while special cloths are made for religious celebrations. This particular example may have been created for personal use or to sell at the market.

This cloth is part of a collection of 33 objects, consisting of West African textiles, spindles, hand spun yarn and a thorn carving, which were collected in West Africa between 1957 and 1966 by Dr C Marion Petrie. Dr Petrie was employed by the British Colonial Service in government and university posts in various towns in Nigeria and Ghana. She collected textiles and other items for her own enjoyment in markets and from traders and subsequently donated them to the National Textile Museum in Adelaide. When the National Textile Museum closed in 1999, this collection was transferred to the Powerhouse Museum.

Wrapper (adire oniko), indigo-dyed cotton, made by a Yoruba woman, Western Nigeria, 1950-1966

Blue and white indigo-dyed cotton cloth. It has been tie-dyed using the 'adire oniko' dye-resist technique. The cloth is patterned with three large spiralled circles across the middle, the centre circle being slightly larger than the outer circles. Two sides of the cloth have been hemmed.

Made: Nigeria; 1950 - 1966

No marks.

2008/59/17

1950 - 1966

1800 mm