The dominant colors of the cloth--red, black and white--have particular meanings. Red, the color of blood, is meant to inspire men to acts of valor. Black is associated with life and the ancestral spirits. White symbolizes the spirit world and death. Until recent years, Anang artists created these cloths for prominent display at funerals. Each was the featured element of a shrine, called nwomo, erected to commemorate a deceased member of the Ebie-owo.
Description:
Rectangular shaped cloth with a pitched top. The pieces of cloth were sewn together to create the larger cloth. Cut-out pieces of cloth were sewn onto the background cloth to create the figures in the middle. The dominant colors are red, white and black.
Provenance:
Keith Nicklin and Jill Salmons, England, commissioned from the artist, late 1970s
Exhibition History:
Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016 (deinstalled June 29, 2015)
BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
A Cloth of Honor, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 6-May 5, 1991
Published References:
Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 2003. " A Tribute to Roy Sieber: Part 2." African Arts 36 (2), p. 21, no. 22.
Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 181, pl. 89.
National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 88, no. 59.
Nicolls, Andrea. 1991. A Cloth of Honor. Gallery handout. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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