Aṣọ Òkè in Depth

Aṣọ òkè na di handwoven prestige cloth of di Yoruba pipo, wey dem dey produce for horizontal narrow-strip loom as continuous bands wey wide reach like ten to fifteen centimetres, wey dem dey cut and sew selvedge to selvedge to make complete clothes 1. Di sibling file arts-textiles (corpus/07-arts/05-textiles.md) cover overview of di two Yoruba loom traditions, di three named prestige cloths, di aṣọ ẹbí institution, and adìrẹ; dis file no dey repeat dat ground. Wetin follow here go deeper into di mechanical parts of di ọfì loom, di fiber and dye chemistry behind di classic weaves, di structural techniques wey dey produce pattern on di strip, and how production arrange for di named historical weaving centers.

Di ọfì Loom: Parts and Mechanism

Di horizontal double-heddle treadle loom wey men dey use na wetin dem dey call ọfì for Yoruba. Di main engineering fact about am, as arts-textiles note, na say di warp dey stretch out along di ground for several metres for front of di weaver wey sit down, and heavy weight wey dey drag dey hold am tight under tension, and pattern must dey planned before weaving begin because finished strip no fit dey adjusted once dem don cut am [arts-textiles]. Di working parts of di loom dey documented for standard survey literature on West African strip weaving 23:

• Di reed or beater. Na frame wey look like comb, wey dem traditionally build from fine bamboo or palm-rib splints wey dem set inside wood or metal frame, wey dey keep di warp threads separated equally and dey beat each new weft pick tightly against di cloth wey dey grow 23.
• Di heddles. Two sets of string loops, wey hang from support on top, wey dey divide di warp into two alternating sheets. To raise one set and lower di other dey open di shed wey di shuttle dey pass through; na di double heddle, wey foot treadles dey work, dey allow di Yoruba weaver change sheds quick-quick and float supplementary weft threads for pattern, and na dis feature dey clearly distinguish dis loom from di women upright single-heddle loom 23[arts-textiles].
• Di treadles. Foot pedals, wey dem often carve from wood or shape from calabash, wey connect to di heddles so dat alternating foot pressure go raise and lower di sheds without say di weaver hand go comot from di shuttle and reed 23.
• Di shuttle. Wooden case wey shape like boat wey dey carry bobbin of weft yarn, wey hand dey throw back and forth across di open shed 23.
• Di drag weight. Stone or heavy weighted sledge wey dem tie to di far end of di warp, wey dem place some distance away from di loom frame along di ground. As di weaver dey work and dey wind finished cloth put for di cloth beam near di seat, di weight dey drag forward, to keep di warp under steady and even tension without breaking di handspun threads 23[arts-textiles].

Weaving on dis loom dey produce cloth wey be predominantly warp-faced: di vertical warp threads wey pack tight dey dominate di visible surface and dey cover most of di weft, na why dem dey set up di striped and plaid patterning of aṣọ òkè on di warping board before di weaver even sit down for di loom 23.

Fiber and Dye Chemistry

Cotton

Cotton wey dem grow locally, òwú, na bin di base fiber for most aṣọ òkè and for di everyday cloth wey women dey weave on di vertical loom. Cotton processing, wey traditionally be women economic domain, dey move from ginning (to separate seed from lint) pass through bowing, wey dey use vibrating bowstring take open and put air inside di raw fiber, reach spinning on hand-turned drop spindle wey clay or wood whorl dey weigh down 3.

Wild silk: sányán

Sányán silk no dey come from cultivated, reeled cocoon but from communal nests of wild caterpillars of di genus Anaphe, mainly Anaphe venata and di species wey dem now classify as Anaphe panda (wey dem record for long time under di synonym Anaphe infracta) 4. Dis caterpillars dey gather together and spin shared bag-like nest on top host trees, wey literature record say include Bridelia micrantha and, for Anaphe venata, Triplochiton scleroxylon 4. Dem dey gather di nests from bush, and because di silk na matted communal cocoon instead of single continuous filament, dem no fit reel am di way dem dey reel cultivated silkworm silk; dem dey boil am to loosen di sericin gum and tease di fiber comot before dem hand-spin am, na why sányán yarn no dey even and dey produce di characteristic rough-texture, pale beige to greyish-tan cloth instead of smooth, shiny one 4. For some parts of Nigeria, dem dey spin di boiled cocoon mass mix with native cotton yarn, and di resulting cloth na di one wey dem dey call sányán 4.

Indigo: àrò

Yoruba indigo dyeing dey use elú, one West African indigo-bearing vine wey dey pea family wey di accepted botanical name now na Philenoptera cyanescens, wey dem previously classify as Lonchocarpus cyanescens 5. Na different plant from Indigofera tinctoria, di Asian indigo species of world trade, distinction wey di arts-textiles file also point out [arts-textiles]5. Indigo pigment no dey dissolve inside water and e no fit dye anything as e dey so; dem must first reduce am, inside alkaline solution, to soluble leuco-indigo, wey di fiber dey absorb and wey go come reoxidise to blue once air touch am after dem lift di yarn comot and expose am 5. Di traditional alkali na lye wey dem leach from wood ash, and dye strength dey build up through repeated cycles of dipping and air oxidation, na so single vat dey produce shades wey dey run from pale sky blue to deep, near-black indigo 5[arts-textiles]. Dem cover di chemistry and di sunken earthenware dye pot with more technical depth inside arts-textiles, including di range of indigo-ball quantities wey dem record for bright blue versus blue-black vat charge [arts-textiles].

Àlàárì red

Historically, di crimson and magenta color of àlàárì come from two different source: boiled water from camwood bark, osùn (from Baphia nitida), wey dem use for local thread, and unravelled magenta waste silk wey dem bring cross Sahara through long-distance trade 26. Di Yoruba word àlàárì generally come from Arabic al-ḥarīr, wey mean silk, and dis origin show say di cloth start as imported goods wey dey come down trans-Saharan caravan route before locally dyed substitute come common 6.

Di Three Canonical Prestige Weave

Arts-textiles don already establish sányán, àlàárì and ẹtù as di classic three-cloth group and give dia basic color and status association [arts-textiles]. Two extra documented technical and semantic detail dey worth to add here.

First, di center white cotton warp stripe for sányán, one long line of undyed cotton wey run down di middle of di natural beige silk ground, na visual sign wey dey repeat across historical sányán weaving and e dey make people quickly recognize di cloth when e dey beside plain cotton or dyed strip 23.

Second, ẹtù's name refer directly to Numida meleagris, di guinea fowl: di cloth fine-fine light warp and weft line, wey sometimes thin reach single thread, wey cross deep indigo-to-black ground, dem dey read am as visual copy of di bird spotted feather, and na dis naming logic dey behind di cloth 2[arts-textiles].

Weaving Technique Dem

Three structural technique dey responsible for most of di different pattern wey dey show on top aṣọ òkè strip.

Warp-faced striping. Di basic structure of di cloth na warp-faced, meaning say di warp thread wey dem pack tight dey cover di weft almost completely, so dem dey make pattern mainly by alternating colored and undyed thread on top warping board before dem weave di strip at all, and dis dey produce di large historical vocabulary of named stripe and plaid pattern 23.

Openwork. Openwork na one of di most distinct decorative technique inside Yoruba narrow-strip weaving. Dem dey use extra weft thread take tie small bundle of warp end together for chosen point, dey pull dem close and dey leave small hole or lattice-like open space for di cloth surface; di extra weft dem self dey form part of di pattern wey person dey see 23. When dem sew strip wey carry dis kind style edge to edge, di open-hole field dey line up form one continuous decorative field across di finish cloth.

Supplementary weft float. Contrasting weft thread, wey historically be silk and later turn to imported metallic or synthetic yarn, dem dey put dem inside di shed together with di ground weft and e go float cross several warp end for face of di cloth without entering fully go di back. Dis one dey produce raised figurative and geometric motif, including triangle, comb shape, and shape wey connect with Quranic writing board, and na documented technique inside standard textile literature on top aṣọ òkè 23.

Regional Center Dem of Production

Strip weaving dey happen across Yorùbáland, but several center develop clear production organization.

Ìṣẹ́yìn

Ìṣẹ́yìn, for inside savanna hill northwest of Ibadan, na di best-documented commercial center for aṣọ òkè and e still be di biggest today 7[arts-textiles]. Fieldwork from late 1960s record say weaving for Ìṣẹ́yìn dey organized around residence and lineage: weavers' cooperative society dey draw dia membership from single quarter and family group, with Oke-Oja recorded as one of di busiest quarter for both weaving and marketing of finish cloth 7. Dat study also find say na only small group of active weavers, 126 person across four society during di research time, belong to formal cooperative structure even though cooperative come dey visible well-well for di trade, wey show say most of Ìṣẹ́yìn production still dey pass through informal household and lineage channel instead of cooperative system 7.

Ọ̀yọ́

As di seat of Aláàfin and di historical Ọ̀yọ́ court, Ọ̀yọ́ weavers work under direct palace support, and dem record di town, alongside Ìṣẹ́yìn and Ìlọrin, as one of di important historical center of aṣọ òkè production 7[arts-textiles].

Ìlọrin

For di northern edge of Yorùbáland, Ìlọrin sit down for di junction of Yoruba, Hausa and Nupe weaving tradition and trade route, and twentieth-century fieldwork on weaving for there document di role wey e play to supply both local and outside demand 8. Record show say Aṣọ òkè strip from Ìlọrin dey carry weft-float motif wey dem make with imported silk, wey match di town position on top long-distance trade route wey bring foreign fiber go north and south 8.

Òwọ̀

Di Òwọ̀ kingdom, for inside eastern Yoruba forest zone, get its own well-documented prestige-textile tradition wey dey different from di aṣọ òkè triad. Di best-recorded example na ṣẹghọ̀ṣẹ́n, "di cloth wey dey chop money," one cloth wey cost well-well wey dem reserve for wedding, chieftaincy installation and king ceremony, and dem understand am for Òwọ̀ say e pass wetin ordinary people fit pay for 9. Fieldwork on top Òwọ̀ textile more broadly document say cloth for there dey function as marker of social and political rank, ritual importance and prestige, wey women dey produce and control 9. Òwọ̀ na also home of di Igogo festival wey dey honor Queen Orọ̀nsẹ́n, one royal ceremony wey dey last many days wey record show say don dey for centuries, during which di Olówó and im chiefs dey wear woman cloth and coral bead 10. Di record wey dem consult for dis file no document specific named cloth type wey dem tie to Igogo by name, so dem no make dat kind claim here; reader wey want dat detail suppose consult Poynor fieldwork directly.

Contemporary Production

Aṣọ òkè weaving continue throughout twentieth and twenty-first century even as people dey import plenty factory-printed cloth, and e still dey tightly connected to the aṣọ ẹbí economy wey arts-textiles treat in full [arts-textiles]. One change wey dem document na the shift for the kind people wey dey weave cloth. For history, to weave on top horizontal loom na men work, while women dey control market and finance instead of to operate the loom itself, but modern report on top Ìṣẹ́yìn describe say na women form most of the workforce now, plus say record show how young women dey enter weaving and design roles wey dem no dey allow dem do before 11. Weavers and traders for Ìṣẹ́yìn still come together organize themselves against things wey dey threaten their business, including one 2012 rally for Lagos to protest how dem dey import fake strip cloth wey China make enter local market 11.