Description

This type of robe was worn by chiefs, dignitaries, emirs, and other high-ranking men in 19th-century West Africa. It marked the wearer’s standing and prestige, and also identified him as a Muslim. The talismanic motifs were typically designed and stitched by Qur’anic scholars who found inspiration in Arabic texts. Soninke women no longer practice these embroidery styles and indigo-dyeing techniques, which impacted the weaving traditions of a vast region north and south of the Sahara.

Provenance

Capt. Sir Cecil Hamilton Armitage (1869-1933), probably Gambia then England, from 1894 to 1927; sold to Maurice Stanley Cockin (died 1961), London, England, before 1933; by descent to his daughter Celia Barclay (née Cockin), Waltham Abbey, Essex, England, from 1961; by descent to her daughter, England [correspondence in curatorial file]; sold, Duke’s Fine Arts Auctionéers, Dorchester, Dorset, England, March 6, 2018, lot 250 [identified as “Celia Berkeley (sic) Cockin Armitage Collection”] to unknown dealer, England; sold to Andres Moraga, Berkeley, Calif., by October 2018; sold to the Art Institute, 2019.