Artwork Details
50 x 32 in.
Accession NumberCostume, Textile Purchase and Delavan Smith Funds
CopyrightBamana “mud cloths” (bogolanfini), which are made of narrow strips of hand-spun cotton woven by men, illustrate an unusual, complicated and multi-step method of dyeing which women specialize in. An outline of the process follows: Cloths are soaked in a solution that dyes them yellow and serves as a mordant. The cotton fibers will now accept an iron-rich mud dye, which is applied with bamboo, wooden or iron implements. Cloths are usually given two applications of mud due, after which they are soaked in a caustic soda bath to bleach out and make white the yellow areas that have not been painted with mud. In effect, the mud dye is not the design, but rather it establishes the negative space around the areas of white design.
The design elements on bogolanfini are drawn from a variety of sources: plants, animals, everyday objects, proverbs and historical events. The names and meanings of motifs may change over time and from place to place. A cloth usually combines a number of design elements, as with this wrapper.
Content Disclaimer and Usage Rights
Metadata about the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection comes from Newfields’ records and research. In some cases, information may be incomplete and research is ongoing. Newfields’ goal is to have as up-to-date metadata as possible, therefore, this information is subject to change. Newfields collections’ metadata is available under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) waiver, which allows for re-use without legal restrictions.
Artworks that appear in the image file(s) above may be in copyright or have other legal and/or cultural restrictions to their use. For clarity, Newfields does not claim copyright to the image files created by Newfields of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Newfields makes every effort to ascertain the copyright status of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Please refer to the RightsStatements.org statement above for information about the current copyright status of the artwork. Additionally, some artworks may include Local Context’s Notices or Labels that attribute cultural authority of the artwork’s heritage and data.
Additional information about Newfields’ reproduction guidelines can be found in the Licensing Resources.