Yoruba Asoke Strip-Woven Cloth

Deep wine red crossed by pale pinstripes, like a ledger ruled by an optimist.

This asoke strip-woven cloth is Yoruba, from Nigeria, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is cotton. Cotton has long been a principal fiber for Yoruba weaving, and the strips are often patterned with stripes, checks and areas of colored supplementary thread. A wide rectangular cloth in dark burgundy, with horizontal bands of narrow pale stripes spaced across its length. Tiny flecks of lighter thread dot some of the lines. The edges are straight and the weave looks flat and even. It is 89 inches wide and 55 long.

Ruled lines, and not one of them wasted.