Hausa Nigerian

This robe’s generous volume and white-on-white embroidery indicate that it was to be worn by an important Hausa man on special occasions. Called babban riga, or “great robes,” these garments were traditionally woven, sewn, and embroidered entirely by men. The body of this robe consists of narrow strip-woven cotton textile lengths painstakingly created by a professional weaver. The embroidery, designed by a Qur’anic scholar, elaborates on the aska takwas (eight knives) motif, an African pattern considered to have protective qualities. The interlaced patterns, as well as the embroidery technique itself, likely came to this part of northern Nigeria with Islam.