Vintage & Collectable African Textiles

Traditional black and white man's smock from the home of fugu strip cloth - Daboya in northern Ghana. Locally grown cotton is handspun, then handwoven into narrow strips up to 60 metres long. Tailors sew the strips together into smocks for everyday and ceremonial wear. This everyday sleeveless smock features some simple hand embroidery around the neck. It is about 7-10 years old.

Approximate size: 86 cm wide x 76 cm long / 33 in wide x 29 in long. Strip cloth is quite thick, which means fugu smocks can weigh up to 2 kilograms - even more if there's lots of elaborate machine embroidery.