Dogon Woman's Wrap / Skirt

Indigo cloth with rows of white dashes, and a zigzag trim down each side.

This woman's wrap or skirt of woven cotton and indigo is Dogon, from Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Cotton cloth in this region is traditionally woven in narrow strips on a loom and then sewn edge to edge to make a wider piece for wrapping around the body. Rectangular dark blue cloth patterned with rows of short white oval dashes on a mottled ground. Narrow bands of X-shaped lines edge the left and right sides. Seams run across the cloth, and the edges are slightly frayed. It is 35 inches wide and 55 long.

Plenty of dots and a lot of patient dye work.