A rare Dan chief's ceremonial robe

composed of strips of hand-woven cloth, the adjacent strips patterned in four-way indigo-dyed and natural stripes running lengthwise, unsewn at the sides with a pocket sewn at the front with the stripes placed diagonally.

Acquired from Chief Sendro of Gompa Village, Liberia, in 1943

Sieber, African Textiles and Decorative Arts, 1973: 39, catalogue of the exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, October 11, 1972 - January 31, 1973 (see bibliography for additional venues)

According to Schwab in describing related garments: '...Most chiefs and important men, for formal dress at least, wear a garment patterned after the huge Mandingo bubu of the Western Sudan. ...It is always made up with stripes running lengthwise. Its extreme width gives the effect of kimono sleeves as broad as they are long. ...There is often a large pocket extending from neck to waist; the stripes on this piece run diagonally' (1947: 110). See (ibid: 96c, 102c, and 43d) for related robes.