Cloth

20th century

"The loom is a holy place." (Gilbert Bobbo Ahiagble)

Ewe weavers use the same loom as their famous neighbors, the Asante. Strips, usually around four inches in width, are created precisely to be sewn into the completed cloth. As compositions, the cloths have a vivid vocabulary of accents. High contrast colors are used to set up staggered pulses of pattern that has been called "offbeat phrasing." Unlike the Asante, the Ewe never united into a confederacy or kingdom, so their weavers offer cloths for a diverse client base that requires less stratification and more imagination. As a result, Ewe cloth is marked by new designs with many recognizable motifs, in fresh color schemes.

Cotton cloth (commercially woven and strip weave)

44 5/16 in. (112.5 cm)

L.: 72 3/16 in.

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.321

Not currently on view

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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