Presentation cloth (aso oke)
Alhadji Yahaya Kalu
(Nigerian, about 1890–1982)
about 1950
Medium/TechniqueStrip-woven cotton plain weave with supplementary rayon patterning wefts
DimensionsOverall: 287 x 154.9 cm (113 x 61 in.)
Credit LineGift of Olaperi Onipede in memory of her parents, Dr. F. Oladipo Onipede and Mrs. Frances A. Onipede
Accession number2010.301
On View
Not on viewClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionThe Yoruba master weaver Alhadji Yahaya Kalu worked in the town of Ilorin. He was famous for presentation cloths that are patterned on both front and back. His work was sought after both by Nigerians and Europeans, and some of his stunning cloths were exhibited during the 1924/25 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in northwest London.
ProvenanceBy January 2006, Madam Abiona, Ibadan, Nigeria; purchased from Abiona by Duncan Clarke, London; before 2009, purchased from Clarke by Olaperi Onipede, Watertown, MA; gift of Onipede to the MFA (Accession date: April 14, 2010)
mid 20th century
mid 20th century
mid-20th century
late 19th century
late 19th–early 20th century
late 20th century
mid 20th century
mid 20th century
19th century
about 1860
late 18th or early 19th century