Ewe Strip-Woven Cloth

Ink-dark stripes, and small rectangles of color stacked like a city at night.

Ewe weavers of Ghana, West Africa, made this strip-woven cloth in cotton in the 20th century. Cloth of this kind is traditionally woven on narrow looms in long bands, then sewn edge to edge into a wide panel, and is often worn wrapped or kept as a valued textile. Here the deep indigo ground carries thin vertical pinstripes. Staggered blocks of red, blue, yellow and orange float across it in rows, nearly every strip a little different.

About 96 by 69 inches. Hang it and the wall stops being plain.