Yoruba resist-dyed tunic and pants, Nigeria
Object No. 2006/136/6
This man's outfit was made for Abiola Buhari, a Yoruba man from Nigeria, around the time he married Australian Clare Maguire, at the Registry Office in Lagos, Nigeria in August 1997. The outfit matches a caftan and headscarf made for Clare Maguire. The fabric was patterned using adire aleko, a resist dyeing technique using candle wax or cassava paste to draw the design onto the fabric before dyeing. Machine embroidered cream chain stitch decorates the neck and the cuffs. In Lagos, amongst the Yoruba in the late 1990s, it was common for couples to wear matching outfits made from the same fabric. If a man had more than one wife he would usually choose which wife he would be attending a function with and have matching outfits made for them and any children who would also be attending. Whole families might dress in matching outfits for important occasions as an expression of the individual's participation in the activities of the larger group. Typically, traditional dress like this was worn for special occasions. Clothing, and the cloth from which it is made, is extremely important to the Yoruba as a social indicator. The way a person dresses is very important, as it indicates their age, status, occupation, training and wealth. Children are often compared in value to cloth and many Yoruba proverbs, sayings and songs are about the values inherent in possessing the proper clothes - or the lack of them.
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Summary
Object Statement
Outfit, tunic and pants, cotton, made by the Yoruba people, worn by Abiola Buhari, Nigeria, 1995-1999
Physical Description
Outfit, mens, tunic and pants, cotton, made by the Yoruba people, worn by Abiola Buhari, Nigeria, 1995-1999 Man's tunic and pants, resist-dyed in a pattern of circles and wavy lines in dark red on white commercial jacquard cotton. The yoke and cuffs of the tunic and the cuffs of the trousers have been heavily machine embroidered in cream silk or viscose.
PRODUCTION
Notes
This man's outfit of tunic and pants, has been resist-dyed with a pattern of large concentric circles offset in a field of vertical wavy lines in dark crimson on white commercially-woven, self-patterned cotton cloth. The yoke and cuffs of the tunic and the cuffs of the trousers have been machine-embroidered in gold chain stitch. The Yoruba use two methods of resist-dyeing. The method used here is called adire aleko, in which candle wax or cassava paste is used to draw on the material, using stencils or freehand, before the cloth is dyed. Cloth patterning is always done by women and then taken to the women dyers.
HISTORY
Notes
This Yoruba man's resist-dyed outfit was made for Abiola Buhari, a Yoruba man from Nigeria, who married Australian woman Clare Maguire, at the Registry Office in Lagos, Nigeria in August 1997. The outfit matches a caftan and headscarf made for Clare Maguire. In Lagos, amongst the Yoruba in the late 1990s, it was common for couples, or whole families, to wear matching outfits made from the same fabric. If a man had more than one wife he would usually choose which wife he would be attending a function with and have suitable matching outfits made for them and any children who would also be attending. Typically, traditional dress like this was worn for special occasions.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Clare Maguire, 2006
Acquisition Date
4 October 2006
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