Early 20th century

Resist-Dyed Textile (Ndop)

In the grassland region of Cameroon and Nigeria, ndop cloths are widely used as badges of identity and for ceremonial purposes, often hung as backdrops for important personages and festivals. To make this impressive cloth, hand-spun cotton was woven on a backstrap loom and the resulting narrow strips were stitched together. Areas of resist were then laboriously produced with raffia stitching before the cloth was dyed with indigo, after which the resist stitches were carefully removed.