Purple and Green Yoruba Tie-Dyed Textile Nigeria 63x38 inch

The markings on Adire Eleko textiles often appear more hand-drawn than their stitch- and tie-resist relatives, and that's because the images usually are drawn free hand. The artist uses a thick paste of cassava flour which enables the textile to remain undyed in drawn areas. The patterns are unmistakable and are attributed to the Yoruba of Nigeria.

Indigo dyes can be made from local plants in West Africa, using the leaves or seeds of the indigofera or lonchocarpus plants. But more recently, synthetic dyes are also available.

We do not recommend laundering textiles, and do not accept returns of textiles which have been laundered in any manner. Even dry cleaning is too much for some of these antique textiles. For some of them, a very gentle HAND washing (NEVER MACHINE, on any setting) in cool water with a very gentle detergent works, but even then, dyes may not be colorfast, and fabric may be less strong than it appears.