Ewe Strip-Woven Cloth

A few inches wide at a time, sewn edge to edge until the cloth reached ten feet.

This strip-woven cloth comes from the Ewe peoples of Ghana, 20th century, in cotton and rayon. Ewe weavers worked long narrow strips on small looms, then sewed them into large cloths, worn wrapped around the body on formal and festive occasions. Here dark bars alternate with small panels of yellow, red and green stripes, forming a tight, shifting grid across the whole field. Salmon and gold bands close each end. Over ten feet long on one side and more than five on the other.

Stand back from it. Your eye will keep rearranging the pattern.