Improving African Futures Using Lessons from the Past

Spindle and spindle whorl, 1982


Description:
A spindle (gԑndԑ in Nafaanra) and a spindle whorl (gԑndԑ kaan in Nafaanra) used to make cotton thread. A black camera lens cap shows scale. For much of the 20th century, spinning was a routine activity for women. Some of the spun cotton thread was dyed blue. The blue thread was woven together with white thread to make durable strip-woven cloths that were highly valued. The rounded spindle whorl is made from fired clay and painted with white and red designs. The spindle whorl's decoration inspired the Nafaanra proverb: "Chlͻ were nyu na gԑndԑ yi" (The woman is as beautiful as the spindle whorl." Archaeologists have found spindle whorls on Banda-area archaeological sites dating to the late 18th and early 19th century. Before that time it seems that spinning cotton was not a routine household activity and that cloth was made in market centers. The spindle whorl is laying on a courtyard floor, with an eroding plaster layer visible in the background. Gbao, September, 1982.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Relation:
https://exhibits.library.uvic.ca/spotlight/iaff/catalog/17-16831 ; https://exhibits.library.uvic.ca/spotlight/iaff/catalog/17-17202
Location(s) Facet:
Gbao
Subjects:
Cotton thread
Subjects Facet:
Handicraft; Spindle whorls; West African strip weaving; Spinning
Identifier:
28
Creator:
Dr. Ann B. Stahl
Contributors:
Dr. Ann B. Stahl
Date searchable:
1982
Date searchable:
1982-09
Genre:
35 mm slide
Genre Facet:
35 mm slide
Location(s):
Gbao;8.147021, -2.362744
Date Digitized:
2016
People Facet:
Dr. Ann B. Stahl
Commentary:
Slide scanned by Veronique Plante
Geographic Coordinates:
8.147021, -2.362744