Women's Weave cloths from Nigeria

Until the end of the 1960s women weaving on the upright single heddle loom could be found in almost every region of Nigeria, and within larger ethnic groups such as the Yoruba distinct local styles of cloth, often confined to a few villages, had developed. Many of these styles are little known, and most are no longer produced, although small numbers of women do continue to weave in some locations. On this page we show a selection of rare early cloths, mainly from Yoruba groups, plus a few later pieces that illustrate something of the diversity of weaving by Nigerian women in the first half of the C20th.