African Symbolism in Afro

African Symbolism in Afro-American Quilts
Author(s): Maude Southwell Wahlman
Source: African Arts, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Nov., 1986), pp. 68-76+99
Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center
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African
Quilts
Symbolismin Afro-American
MAUDESOUTHWELLWAHLMAN
influence of African slaves on
dance, and speech in the
Caribbeanand the Americas,where they
were sent between 1650 and 1850, has
long been documented.1Theirimpacton
folk arts like quiltmaking is less well
known (Thompson 1969, Vlach 1978,
Wahlman& Scully1982).Yetit is possible
to trace African textile techniques,
aesthetic preferences, and religious
symbols that were adapted by black
quiltmakers in the New World. There
they mixed and sorted their own traditions, then combined them with EuroAmericanand AmericanIndian2idioms
to create unique creolized arts.
Probablyinvented by Mande peoples,
strip-weaving technology spread via
Mande Dyula traders throughout West
Africa(Thompson1983:209-10).Forcen-
The
music,
turies in that part of the continent, most
cloth has been constructed from strips
woven on small portable men's looms
and sewn together. The Africanpreference for strip textiles continued in the
New World in the Afro-Braziliangarment called pano de costa (Thompson
1983:213).A nineteenth-centuryillustration (Denis l823:pl. 136)shows a Mandelike loincloth in Suriname made from
three strips of cotton, two patternedand
the center one plain, as in nineteenthcentury Asante cloth from Ghana. At
that time black women on Suriname
coastalplantationsalso made patchwork
textiles (mamio)and festive costumes for
special hostesses (a mekisani) from patterned and striped handkerchiefs
(Thompson 1983:296-97). Maroon
peoples, composed of slaves who es-
1. AFRO-SURINAMESTRIP CAPE. COLLECTEDBY CHRISTOPHERHEALY.
caped to the Suriname rainforest, continued the Africantradition:both Djuka
and Saramaka women fashioned strip
textiles (Fig. 1).
In Haiti, Africans made two types of
strip clothing- a shirt (mayo)in red and
white, or red, white, and blue, worn for
protectionagainst evil (Stebich1978:113),
and a multicoloredgarment called a rade
de penitence,which Melville Herskovits
(1971:254-55)described as "a complex
mergingof Europeansand Africansecular and religious customs.... In one instance a man wore a red shirt with black
crosses appliqued on it; dresses of this
type worn by women or children are
made of cotton cloth, pieced together
'patchwork-quilt' fashion, of either
three, seven, seventeen, or twenty-one
different colors or patterns, with reds,
blues, and white predominating."3
Strip clothing was also made in the
United States as seen in a 1930s photograph (Welty1971:106).In addition strips
dominate many Afro-American quilt
patterns (Figs. 2,3), including the oldest
style of pieced quilt, sometimes called
"Lazy Gal"; an old strip pattern made
from "strings" of cloth, comparable to
weft bands of color, called "SpiderLeg";
and its blocked version, a creolizationof
African and Anglo-American elements,
called "TwinSisters" or "Spider Web."
One quilt made between 1825 and 1850
by Afro-Americans living in Jackson
Hill, Georgia, was done in the "Wild
Goose Chase" pattern, with rows of triangles separated by wide strips
(Reynolds 1978:6-7). This pattern remains popularall over the United States,
especially among Afro-Americanwomen. While strips may also be used in
Anglo-American quilts, they appear as
only one of many geometric patterns.
Whether consisting of a single piece or
many small scraps of cloth, strips are a
dominant design element as well as a
chief construction technique in both
WestAfricantextiles and Afro-American
quilts.
When woven strips of various patterns are sewn together in West Africa,
the resulting cloth is asymmetrical, unpredictable in design. The aesthetic of
these "off beat" patterns, as Thompson
(1974:11)calls them, is preferred. African
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wide-loom women's textiles were also
sewn together to create asymmetrical
designs. Wide-loom weaving was once
done by black women in the United
States, the same women who made
quilts, and it was they who probablypreserved certain African cloth traditions.
One of them, Luiza Combs, was born in
Guinea (ca. 1853),but at about age 10 she
arrived in Tennessee. One example of
her wide-loom weaving survives. Made
in 1890, it comprises two panels of
brightly colored horizontal stripes that
when stitched together created an
asymmetricaleffect similar to West African woven cloth. Judith Chase
(1980:135-58) noted that "...
most old
[Afro-American]coverlets were woven
in two strips seamed down the center to
make them wide enough to cover a bed.
Interestingly enough there sometimes
appears to be no attempt to match the
pattern where the seam is made. Considering the obvious dexterity of the
weaver, this may be an Africanism."A
contemporaryAfro-Americanquilt from
Maryland, described by Peter Holmes
(1977),also featureshorizontalstripsthat
were offset when the two panels were
joined.
Multiplepatterningis anothercharacteristicshared by Africanand Caribbean
textilesand Afro-Americanquilts. In Africa the number and complexity of patterns in a fabric increase in accordance
with the owner's prestige, power, and
wealth (Cole & Ross 1977:24, pl. IV).
Cloth woven for kings or priests may
feature a variety of patterns within as
well as between strips (see Sieber
1972:192).ContemporaryAfro-American
quiltsretainthis aesthetic:lines, designs,
and colors vary with a persistence that
cannot be explained by a lack of cloth in
the right color or pattern (Figs. 4,5).
Thompson (1983:221)has suggested that
asymmetrical and multiple-patterned
strip cloths in West Africa have more
than an aesthetic function: they also
serve to keep evil spirits away, as "evil
travels in straight lines."
Afro-Americanquiltmakerswent one
step further by introducing improvisa-
tion, establishing a pattern in one square
often one of traditional EuroAmerican origin - and varying it in size,
arrangement, and color in successive
squares (Fig. 6). Through improvisation,
they maintain African principles of multiple patterning, asymmetry, and unpredictable rhythms and tensions similar to
those found in other Afro-American arts
such as blues, jazz, and dance.
Besides piecing, in which strip patterns may dominate, the other basic quilt
construction
known in
technique
and
the
United
States is
Africa,
Europe,
applique. While Euro-American appliqued quilts are primarily decorative,
Afro-American counterparts often relate
2. AFRO-AMERICANSTRIP QUILT.BY MARTHAJANE PETTWAY,
ALABAMA.
-
3. AFRO-AMERICANSTRIP QUILT.BY SARAH MARYTAYLOR,MISSISSIPPI.
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stories and ideas in the same manner as
African appliqued textiles. The latter
recorded court and personal histories,
and impaired religious values with bold
designs symbolizing admirable qualities
like leadership, wisdom, courage, balance, and composure. One nineteenthcentury applique now in Whydah, Republic of Benin, comprises sixteen
squares that illustrate the capture of a
Fon group, their voyage to Brazil, and
their return home to Whydah (illustrated
in Verger & da Cruz 1969:18-19).4 Similar
traditions
still occur in
applique
Suriname, St. Martin, and Haiti, although many contemporary examples,
like those from the Republic of Benin,
now display one large scene.
Haitian flags, featuring painted and
appliqued scenes embellished with sequins and beads, have numerous possible roots: European flags, Fon banners of
the Republic of Benin, Fante flags of
Ghana, Ejagham cloth and Ibibio funerary hangings of Nigeria, and Kongo flags
of Zaire and Angola. Mpeeve, Kikongo
for "flag," refers to both fluttering and
the presence of unseen spirits. Honoring
Vodun gods, Haitian flags announce the
coming of a particular spirit to a shrine at
a ceremony. After independence in 1804,
many Haitians migrated to New Orleans
where African textile influences in these
flags combined with Euro-American images. Thompson (1981:191)has noted that
the Kongo idea of agitating cloth or a flag
to open the door to the other world with
honor continues in New Orleans with
the use of Afro-American jazz funeralmarch umbrellas, appliqued in bright
colors and adorned with bells, feathers,
flowers, and ribbons.
Afro-American quilts mirror the diverse influences that shape the lives of
black women in the United States.
Appliqued examples may incorporate
4. AFRO-AMERICANBLOCK QUILTWITHMULTIPLEPATTERNING.BY MOZELLBENSON, ALABAMA.
iconography drawn from imagination,
Southern rural black culture, and popular American culture shaped by television, magazines, and advertising. Their
secular imagery is countered in appliqued Bible textiles, a tradition probably
connected to two 1775 Bible cloths from
New Orleans (Fig. 7). Although it cannot
be proven that these were made by a
black woman, certain features indicate
strong continuities with African techniques and ideographic symbols. Florence Peto (1939:56-57) wrote: "Although
there is no available history to help identify the origin of the items.., they are
among the most interesting and unique
patchwork creations that I have encountered. Two panels (9'9" long; 6'6" wide),
consist each of thirty six appliqued picture blocks which tell the story of the Testaments, Old and New respectively.
They have a Latin, an old world appearance, although they are said to derive
from New Orleans, where they quite
possibly adorned the walls of a convent
or private chapel. The technique
employed in applying the patches differs
markedly from that used generally by
American colonial and pioneer needleworkers; they suggest the fingers of a
creole woman. No edges have been
turned under; patches have been
applied and then outlined with a thin,
round, black and white cord held in
The
place with couching stitches...
episode blocks, seven inches square, are
separated by three inch wide bands of
gold cloth to which have been appliqued
the Greek fret border in white - all
edges outlined with cord. The upper inscription, Dictus Anno Sancto, may be
translated, 'dedicated to the Holy Year.'
The lower inscription, '1775.' "
The raw edges of the appliqued figures on these two Bible cloths, a characteristic shared by many Afro-American
quilts, are like those of the leather cutouts found on Nigerian Yoruba Egungun
costumes and bags, used by priests for
the god Shango. These bags (labashango)
feature square frames with appliqued
human figures posed in the sign for
lightning (one arm up, one arm down),
which also signifies motion in the
Ejagham writing system (nsibidi). The
ideographic designs surrounding the
1775 textiles are similar to Ejagham signs
for speech and motion.
Two Afro-American appliqued quilts,
made by Harriet Powers in 1886 and
1898, illustrate scenes from the Bible as
well as local historical events.s Both
quilts are made in three rows of scenes,
each scene placed within a square outlined with narrow strips. Marie-Jeanne
Adams (1980:12-38) notes, "... the details of the stitching show that the
squares were put together in vertical
columns, which is evidence that on some
level of her thought, Mrs. Powers
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grouped the scenes in vertical order."
This vertical arrangement may be a
reflection of the West African stripweaving tradition.
Adams speculates on possible African
influences on Powers, who was born in
Georgia in 1837 (1980:12-28):"By the time
her parents' generation would have
come to the South, most slaves were
being imported from the Congo and Angola. Even if they came from West Africa
and from Dahomey, they would not
necessarily be knowledgeable in the
applique techniques. [Fon] appliqued
dclothswere made.., in the capital city of
Abomey by family guilds of tailors, all retainers of the monarch, and the guilds
included only men and young boys. It
seems most likely that she could have
acquired a knowledge of [this] African
style by hearsay only from other, older
house slaves of her 'old miss' or from her
parents or other older persons."
Afro-American quilt designs may also
have been inspired by African writing traditions, which often use cloth as
a medium for ideographs. Writing is considered sacred and protective, associated
with knowledge, power, and intelligence. In Mali, Bamana women paint
esoteric designs on cloth called bokolanfini, woven by men on a narrow loom.
The fabric is used for women's wrappers and protective clothing for hunters.
Also in West Africa, Mande peoples encase pieces of religious writing, indigenous and Islamic, in protective leather
charms that are worn around the neck
or sewn to gowns. Numerous bundles
containing script were sewn onto quilted
war shirts and horse blankets as a further
defensive measure. In the Republic of
Benin, the Fon paint religious signs on
the ground. In Nigeria, nsibidi appears
on Ejagham secret-society buildings,
metal fans, and calabashes, as well as
woven costumes and resist-dyed and
appliqued cloths. In Central Africa,
priests use symbolic art forms related to
the Kongo cosmogram, a circle with four
points representing birth, life, death,
and rebirth in the world of the ancestors,
under the sea (Thompson 1983; Janzen &
1974; Bunseki
1969).
MacGaffey
Thompson (1981:63-71) reports that
priests draw the cosmogram in the earth,
and Kongo and related peoples bury
their mummified chiefs in "figures
shaped in crimson cloth," often decorated with the cosmogram.
These African influences can be discerned in Afro-Latin American scripts.
Thompson (1983) has shown that Brazilian points, Suriname afaka, and Cuban
anaforuana derive from West African
signs (nsibidi) and the Kongo cosmo-
5. AFRO-AMERICANBLOCKQUILTWITHMULTIPLEPATTERNING.BY PECOLIAWARNER,MISSISSIPPI.
6. COTTON LEAF QUILT WITH ASYMMETRY,MULTIPLE
PATTERNING, AND IMPROVISATION. BY LUCINDA
TOOMER,GEORGIA.
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gram. Haitianveve can be traced to Fon
and Kongo ground-painting ritual as
well as those two elements. Many AfroLatin American textiles feature these
In Brazil,
creolized ideographs.
Thompson (1983:116,pl. 68) saw points
embroideredon a green silk sash for the
Yoruba god Ogun. Suriname women
embroider afaka designs onto loincloths for theirmen. Haitianflags feature
veve.In Cubaone finds the reappearance
of the Ejaghammen's secret society cos-
tume featuring nsibidichecks to represent leopards' spots (Thompson
1983:262-66, pls. 159, 161). For the
Ejagham, the leopard is a symbol of
power, intelligence, and cool leadership
(Thompson1974:18).Woven, appliqued,
and resist-dyed cloths with checks or triangles are made by woman and worn by
leaders of the leopard society or hung in
their shrines.
These ideographs may appear in
Afro-Americanquiltsas well. Checksare
7. APPLIQUEDBIBLECLOTH.MAKERUNKNOWN.NEW ORLEANS, 1775.
FROMHISTORICQUILTSBY FLORENCEPETO. AMERICANHISTORICALCOMPANY,1939.
a popular old pattern rememberedfrom
early childhood. It is a salvage design
that can be made from the smallest
scrapsand thatallows for maximumcontrast between scraps without elaborate
preplanning. Checks are also transformed into the popular "Nine Patch"
block design borrowed from AngloAmerican quiltmaking tradition. One
can speculate that Afro-Americans
adopted "NinePatch"and otherchecked
and triangle patterns like "WildGoose
Chase" because they resembled the
leopard society cloths of their heritage.6
Cross-like patterns also occur frequently (Figs. 9,11) in Afro-American
quilts. Although now interpreted as
Christiancrosses, they could once have
been adopted because of a resemblance
to the Kongo symbol for the four points
of the sun. Mary Twining (1977:188)
comments on the design of a quilt made
by Mrs. RobertJohnsonof John'sIsland,
South Carolina:"It was not a Christian
cross, accordingto residents.... It represented danger, evil and bad feelings."
The "BrokenStove" or "Love Knot"
pattern is another Afro-Americanquilting favorite(Fig. 8). It featuresa circledivided into quadrants, usually in contrasting materials. Pecolia Warnercalls
this circlethe "eyes" of the stove and of
the quilt. The four eyes may allude to the
Ejaghambelief in two sets of eyes, the
second set being for spiritual vision.
Thompson (1983:248)points out that in
Cuba this Ejaghamidea was combined
with the Kongo cosmogram;the circleis
divided into four, with a small circle in
each quadrant.
In Harriet Power's Bible quilts, the
most elaborate shapes are the suns.
Afro-Americanquiltmakerscould have
preferredsun-like designs because they
remembered Ejagham,Kongo, Haitian,
or Cuban signs, or because they were
similar to established Afro-American
patterns. I postulate that sun-like motifs
were originallyadopted and creolized as
religious symbols deriving from the
Kongocosmogram,and then theirmeanings were forgotten.Consideringthe fact
that one-thirdof the blacksin the United
States can trace their ancestry to Zaire
and Angola, this is not improbable.
Writing continued to have protective
symbolism in Afro-American culture,
even when the writing was in English.
Newsprint placed on the walls of Southern homes, and into shoes as well, protected against the elements or evil enslaving spirits, who, it was believed,
"would have to stop and read the words
of each chopped up column" before they
could do any harm (Bass 1973:393).' Vestiges of these protective writing traditions also occur in the folk arts. Quilts
with hard-to-read asymmetrical designs
and multiple patterns (Figs. 4,5) have the
same function as newspapered walls
(e.g., Vlach 1978:74,139). While contemporary quilters do not talk about confus-
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ing strangers or warding off evil spirits
with their quilts, their aesthetic choices
do imply traditionsthat once had protective significanceand that may well have
been a continuationof protectiveAfrican
texts.
Another African concept that reappeared in the New World, and eventually in Afro-American quilts, is the
healing or protective charm, of which
there are two types. The first, from West
Africa,has alreadybeen mentioned: the
small squarepacket, often of red leather,
enclosing script;these are worn around
the neck and on hunting and religious
costumes as protectionagainstevil.8The
second type, from Central Africa, the
Kongonkisi(pl. minkisi),or "medicinesof
God," appears in numerous forms. Janzen and MacGaffey (1974:37)note that
the earliestKongo charms were ceramic
vessels with liquid medicines; later versions contained symbolic medicines that
referred to the watery ancestral world
and to things whose names were puns
for verbs of action. The enclosed objects
fall into two classes: those significantfor
their visual form (e.g., shells, graveyard
earth, day) and objects considered important because the terms for them are
similar to verbs of action (e.g., animal
claws). One type in dcloth,usually red,
was tied at the neck, with feathersat the
top (Thompson1983:pl. 72).
Another type of nkisiin wood, often of
human shape, had a hollow in the center
for the magical substances, sealed with
glass, a shell, mica, or a mirror,all references to the watery realm of Kongo ancestors. Nails were sometimes used to
activate them. The ultimate charm was
the mummifiedbody of a king, encased
in red blanketsand often decoratedwith
A REAPPEARANCEOF THE EJAGHAM-AFRO-CUBANBELIEFIN FOUR EYES,
8. LOVEKNOTQUILTILLUSTRATING
TWO FOR SIGHT,TWO FOR SPIRITUALVISION. BY PECOLIAWARNER,MISSISSIPPI.
9. DREAMQUILTSHOWING THE POSSIBLE REAPPEARANCEOF THE KONGO COSMOGRAM. BY ARESTEREARL, GEORGIA.
10. "DOLLYDIMPLE"QUILT(DETAIL).RED APPLIQUEDFIGURES IMPLYTHE SURVIVAL
OF THE FORMOF THE VODUN DOLL. BY PEARLIEPOSEY, MISSISSIPPI.
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the cosmogram(Thompson1981:63-71).
Minkisi were activated by reciting
verbs of action to conjure up the ancestor's powers needed to make them
work. Thompson (1981:151)
reports that
important charms were sometimes set
upon a cosmogramdrawninto the earth;
and some Kongo priests decorate the
walls of their shrines with charms and
ideographic signs in order to neutralize
negative forces.
In Haiti, the Kongo cloth charmis still
very much alive in the form of pacquet
kongo,small tightly wound charms enclosed in cloth, now with arms, beads
around the neck, ribbons, and sequins
(Thompson1983:31-36).Some have earrings or lace ruffles and are meant to
represent female spirits. Maya Deren
(1953:275) noted that "Pacquets
Congo... are bound as magical safeguards.., whose efficiency depends on
the technique of careful wrapping (the
idea being to enclose the soul well, so as
to keep it from evil) ....
In Haiti and Cuba, one also finds allu-
sions to the Kongo mbaka,little red men
thought to be messengers from the dead
(Herskovits 1971:239-44);called baka,
they look like miniature Kongo mummies. One sees them, for example, in
Haitian paintings such as Engverrand
Gourge's The Magic Table (Rodman
1973:76).
In the United States, these red human
forms- mbaka,the Kongo mummy,and
pacquetcongo- have evolved into Vodun
dolls. Often they are made with pins to
activate them, just as Kongo wooden
charmsare activatedby nails. The painters Nellie Mae Rowe and Lizzie Wilkerson both made dolls with red arms and
legs, but neither woman would explain
why she used that color:9although the,
symbolism of Vodun dolls may have
been forgotten, their form continued.
Two quiltmakers'applique designs featurered men (Fig.14)and "DollyDimple
Dolls," reminiscent of Vodun dolls (Fig.
10).
The Afro-Americanmojo,also known
as a "hand,"is a dclothcharm that fuses
West and Central African concepts.
Charms contain a soul, a spiritualspark
or force, called mooyo in Kikongo
(Thompson 1984).10Mojorefers to a hex
or spell, healing medicine, and the
charm or amulet used to lift a spell or
protect one from evil forces. Zora Neal
wrote about a "hand":
Hurston (1931:414)
"Takea piece of the fig leaf, sycamore
bark, John de Conquer root, John de
Conquer vine, three paradise seeds.
Takea piece of paper and draw a square
and let the party write his wishes. Begin,
'I want to be successful in all my undertakings.' Then cut the paper from
around the square and let him tear it up
fine and throw it in front of the business
place or house or wherever he wants.
Put the squarein the 'hand' and sew it all
up in red flannel. Sew with a strong
thread and when seams are closed, pass
the thread back and forth through the
bag 'til all the thread is used up. Topour
on 'hand:' oil of anise, oil of rose
geranium, violet perfume, oil of lavender, verbena, bay rum. 'Hand' must be
renewed every six months."
To get rid of bad spirits, a person
could put foot scrapings in a silk bag
and toss it into a river, uttering "Go
yo Devil, yogo" (Hyatt1974,2895). Likewise, pieces of silky cloth were gathered
into pockets and sewn onto large cloths,
often quilted. Such coverlets, called
Yoyo quilts, retain the aesthetic form if not the meaning -
of mojo.
The Afro-American"Pineapple"quilt
patternmay representanothervestige of
cloth charms. It is made from squares of
cloth folded twice into smaller squares
and then sewn together so that only the
points show as triangularshapes. These
tips overlap each other to createa threedimensional, sculpturalsurface, not unlike a soft version of a Kongo nailembellishednkisi.In one quilt all the tips
are arrangedinto nine circles, each with
a pocket in the center that can be opened
by prying up a few of the triangles. This
technique is widespread from Mississippi and Alabamato Connecticut.
TodayAfro-Americanquiltmakersincorporate images derived from their
11. CROSS QUILT,SHOWINGTHE POSSIBLE CONTINUATIONOF THE KONGO COSMOGRAM.
BY SARAH MARYTAYLOR,MISSISSIPPI.
daily lives. Their appliques reproduce illustrations from books and magazines
and record dreamed designs. Some,
however, continue using traditional images such as human or doll forms as well
as hands. Sarah Mary Taylor of Mississippi produced a quilt she calls "Mermaid" (formerly known as "Rabbit") because of the large figures appliqued onto
white squares (Fig. 12). Numerous small
red squares like the mojo or "hand" also
occur, and one such red square has a blue
hand appliqued adjacent to it. This
quiltmaker has made numerous quilts
that play on the symbolic connotations
and aesthetic qualities of the hand image.
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The epitome of the Afro-American
charm-likequiltis an exampleby Arester
Earl(Fig. 13). It has pleated and stuffed
shell shapes in materials(mostly silky) of
many colorsand patterns,sewn onto red
cloth. The quilt is significant because it
illustrates three important Kongo religious references: "medicines of God,"
enclosed in cloth; the shell, emblem of
the world of Kongo ancestors; and the
cross, or the Kongo cosmogram. That a
quilt could have naively combined these
potent Kongo symbols seems unlikely.
Protective Afro-Americanquilts may
also borrow Anglo-American patterns
that imply action in their names (e.g.,
"FlyingGeese," "RockyRoad to California," "DrunkardsPath,") or forms (e.g.,
in "Bear'sPaw"). They recallthe objects
contained as medicines in Kongo
charms, objects whose names are puns
for verbs of action.
The bold colors and large designs of
Afro-Americantextiles originate in the
communicativefunction of African textiles, used to indicate status, wealth, occupation, and history. The strong color
contrasts in the latter insure a cloth's
readability at a distance and in strong
sunlight. Similar brilliant colors are
found in Afro-Americanquilts although
the function has become strictlyaesthetic.11
Afro-American quilt colors can be
tracedto Africanprotectivetraditionsas
well. Bunseki (1969)notes that when a
person is painted with red, white, and
black spots during a Kongo healing ceremony, it signifies that he has the power
to defend himself against "annihilating
powers." These colors are used to fight
disturbinginfluences in the world of the
living. The addition of yellow indicatesa
contest with forces from the dead.
Thompson (1977-80)says that among
the Yoruba, white, identified with the
god Obatala,represents character,pure
intentions, and the sourceof knowledge.
Red is associated with Shango, the god
of thunder, and is also a symbol of ashe,
the power to make things happen and to
make things multiply, possessed by
kings as well as Shango. The god's red
12. MERMAIDQUILT.APPLIQUEDBY SARAH MARYTAYLOR,MISSISSIPPI.
and white beads symbolize the balance
of character and power. Blue symbolizes
calculated
coolness,
composure,
thought, control, and generosity.
In Haiti, Yoruba-Fon and Central African Bantu color symbolism seem to have
melded together in the red-and-white
striped shirts, called mayo, which are
worn as protection against evil by Vodun
followers (Stebich 1978:113). And for the
13. SHELL QUILTTORP,
ILLUSTRATINGTHE SURVIVALOF
KONGO RELIGIOUS BELIEFS:THE CONCEPT OF CLOTH
MINKISI, MEDICINES OF GOD; SHELLS, REPRESENTING
THE UNDERWATER REALM OF KONGO ANCESTRAL
POWERS;AND THE KONGO CROSS OR COSMOGRAMOF
BIRTH, LIFE, DEATH, AND REBIRTH. BY ARESTER EARL,
GEORGIA.
75
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United States, Thompson (1983:221)
notes: "Nellie Brag,an old Blackwoman
of the Canton, Ohio, areain the firsthalf
of the 20th century was asked why she
often went about wearing one red sock
with a deliberately mismatched white
one. Yearslater, after trust and friendship had been established between her
and her interlocutor,she told the reason
why: 'to keep spiritsaway.'"Even today,
black coeds at the University of Mississippi canbe seen wearingtights with one
red and one blackleg.
Among the quiltmakersof Sea Island,
Georgia, colors are warm or cold, emphasizing reds, blues, or whites. Red
signifies danger, fire, conflict, and passion; blue is a good color used on doors
to keep away bad spirits;white is a color
that makes one good - a color used at
weddings, funerals, and parties. Mary
Twining (1977:189)wrote: "Red, blue,
black, and white are four importantcolors whose significance[to Sea Islanders]
is linked to a deeper set of values and beliefs in culture.These have meanings beyond an exciting combination of colors
which work well together.... The quilts
are often made in strikingchromaticcon-
trasts such as red/blue or red/white color combinations which suggest the
binary opposites hot/cool, good/bad,
safe/dangerous which are some of the
dichotomous predicates that make up
the dynamics of human societies."
Although color may have symbolic
significance to many Afro-American
quiltmakers,12most simply explain that
color choices are determined by maximum contrast. Sometimes colors are
symmetricallyor consistently arranged.
More often scrapsare pieced together as
they come out of a bag or box, with
aesthetic decisions made at the last minute. Because quiltmakersusually work
with salvage materialsof many patterns
and colors, this piecing technique encouragesasymmetricaldesigns and multiple patterns.
In 1980 Pecolia Warnermade a red,
white, and blue striped quilt based on
the American flag. She said that she
dreamedof the quilt afterseeing a flag at
the post office. In her hands it has become an Afro-Americanversion of the
protectiveHaitianmayo,featuringstrips,
bright contrasting colors, large designs,
asymmetry, at least two patterns, and
44
Mii
ILI'
14. MEN QUILT,SHOWINGTHE VODUN DOLL FORM. BY SARAH MARYTAYLOR,MISSISSIPPI.
starsresemblingthe Ejaghamsymbol for
speech.
We have seen that Afro-American
quilt patterns derive from rich cultural
traditions. If only one or two African
forms were evident, one could suspect
coincidence, but the numerous similarities strongly suggest a link to Central
AfricanKongo and various WestAfrican
cultures. Indeed, more than one third of
Afro-Americansare descended from the
Kongo and Kongo-influenced peoples,
and an equally impressive number from
WestAfricanpeoples.
Like many other Afro-Americanfolk
artists, quiltmakers are inspired by
dreams that recall the imagery of their
childhood in which they were exposed to
folk religious concepts and visual symbols. That so much of their art has ties to
African and Afro-Latin American religious forms, whose meaning could not
always be verbalized, may indicate an
unconscious revivalof these culturalsystems. Paul Bohannan(1973)wrote: "Culture is coded in memory,in behavior, in
materials,in language, in art, in writing,
and computers.., the most important
thing about cultureis thatit is always encoded twice - once within the human
being, in electrical and chemical form,
and once outside the human being in
some other form." I would submit that
for Afro-Americans their most highly
valued ideas, such as Africanprotective
religious concepts, are encoded in many
forms: the visual arts, song, dance, and
even speech.
Ideas encoded in objects sometimes
last longer than those retained in the
mind or in words. George Kubler
(1976:50-51)wrote: "The artist is not a
free agent obeying only his own will. His
situation is rigidly bound by a chain of
priorevents. The chain is invisible to him
and it limits his motion. He is not aware
of it as a chain but only as a vis a tergo, as
the force of events behind him." These
comments are particularly insightful
when applied to Afro-Americanfolk artists, who have so often been labeled
idiosyncratic because they could not
articulate the African traditions that
shaped their visions, dreams, and arts.
We can only guess whether their use of
African symbolic forms is unconscious,
or if they know the meanings behind the
symbols but refuse to disclose them. 13
Afro-American artists maintaining
this creolized aesthetic demonstrate the
power and vision of African cultural traditions in contemporary American society, affirming the extraordinary tenacity
of African religious ideas over hundreds
of years in the face of major obstacles.
Their contribution suggests that the
unique way in which any culture encodes beauty in the seen world is an indispensable tool for coping with an indifO
ferent or hostile reality.
Notes,page99
76
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tional Yoruba Religion and Art." Paper presented at the
Conference on Nigerian Women and Development in Relation to Changing Family Structure, University of Ibadan,
April 26-30.
Abiodun, Rowland. In press. "Woman in Yoruba Religious
Images: An Aesthetic Approach," in Visual Art as Social
Commentary,ed. John Picton. London: School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London.
Armstrong, Robert Plant, 1983. "Oshe Shango and the
Dynamic of Doubling," African Arts 16, 2:28-33.
Caldwell, J.C. and P. Caldwell. 1977. "The Role of Marital
Sexual Abstinence in Determining Fertility: A Study of the
Yoruba of Nigeria," Population Studies 31, 2:193-217.
Drewal, Henry John. 1986. "African Art at Cleveland State
University," African Arts 19, 2:56-63, 91-92.
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. 1975. "Symbols of Possession:
A Study of Movement and Regalia in an Anago-Yoruga
Ceremony," Dance ResearchJournal7, 2:15-24.
Drewal, MargaretThompson. 1977. "Projections from the Top
in Yoruba Art," African Arts 11, 1:43-49, 91-92.
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. Forthcoming. "Dancing for
Ogun in Yorubaland and in Brazil," in Africa's Ogun: Old
Worldand New, ed. Sandra Barnes.
Fagg, William. 1982. YorubaSculptureof WestAfrica. Descriptive
ed. Bryce Holcombe. New
Catalog by John Pemberton HIII,
York: Alfred A. Knopf.
D.B.
1953.
"Infant
Jelliffe,
Feeding among the Yoruba of Ibadan," The WestAfrican MedicalJournal n.s. 2,3:111-22.
Lawal, Babatunde. 1970. "YorubaSango Sculpture in Historical Retrospect." Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University.
Smith, Robert S.1967. "YorubaArmament," Journalof African
History 8, 1:87-106.
Thompson, Robert Farris. 1971a. Black Gods and Kings. Los
Angeles: University of California.
Thompson, Robert Farris. 1971b. "Sons of Thunder," African
Arts 4, 3:8-13, 77-80.
Verger,Pierre. 1954. "Role Jou? par l'Etat d'Hbtb&udeau cours
de l'Initiation des Novices aux Cultes des Orisha et Vodun," Bulletin de I.FA.N., ser. B, 16, 3-4:322-40.
Verger, Pierre. 1969. "Tranceand Convention in Nago-Yoruba
Spirit Mediumship," in Spirit Mediumshipand Society in Africa, eds. J. Beattie and J. Middleton, pp. 50-66. New York:
Africana Publishing Co.
Wescott, Joan and Peter Morton-Williams. 1%2. "The Symbolism and Ritual Context of the Yoruba Laba Shango,"
Journalof the Royal AnthropologicalInstitute 92:23-37.
WAHLMAN,notes, from page 76
1. See Herskovits (1941,1955), Courlander (1960), Szwed and
Abraham (1979), and Wood (1974).
2. American Indian traditions appear mostly in Afro-Latin
American textiles and Mardi Gras costumes. African ideas
also occur in Seminole Indian patchwork textiles.
3. Herskovits goes on to say: "The term penitence has been
taken from church terminology, and the motivating sanction
derives equally from African and Christian concepts; for
example, the wearing of the garment is a compliment to the
African deities represented by the colors, while the various
rules about abstinence during its term of wearing is the European pattern of penitence."
4. Personal communication: Rosalind Jeffries, 1980; and
Marie-Jeanne Adams, 1983.
5. The earlier quilt was exhibited at the Cotton Fair in Athens,
Georgia, in 1886. Purchased in 1891 by Jennie Smith, it was
eventually given to the Smithsonian Institution. Its display at
the 1896 Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta resulted in the
commissioning of the second Bible quilt as a gift for the
Reverend Charles Culber Hall. This quilt was given to the
Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1964.
6. Retention of leopard society traditions makes sense in
terms of slave trading history, for Old Calabar, at the mouth of
the Cross River, was a major slave port. Check symbolism is
retained in secret society costumes in Cuba, where an equally
great number of Cross River peoples were sent.
7. Trudier Harris (pers. com., March 1984) tells me this concept derives from the Afro-American practice of leaving a
Bible open at night; the power of religious words would protect a family against evil. And Roger Abrahams (pers. com.,
1985) related that in many literate cultures, one put a Bible
under a pillow tohave a wish fulfilled or toprotect a child; the
practice of enclosing magical holy words to increase their
power is found widely in early literate cultures. He noted that
thelBible is used not only as an amulet butdasa divining tool as
well; a person looking for guidance would open the Bible and
read the first verse he encountered, and it would contain a
sign indicating what action to take.
8. In Brazil Thompson (1981:18) found variations on this
theme; one example has writing on the red plastic film covering styrofoam.
9. Jean Ellen Jones, personal communication, 1984.
10. The y in mooyo lightly changes to a j (Robert Farris
Thompson, pers. com., 1984).
11. This work is best seen from a distance in contrast to pastel
New England quilts meant to be inspected in intimate settings.
12. Zora Neal Hurston (1931:385) documented the following
color symbolism: red for victory; pink for love; green for driving off evil spirits; blue for success and protection and for
causing death; yellow for money; brown for drawing money
and people; lavender for causing harm; and black for death or
evil. For Pecolia Warner (pers. com., 1980) the colors in her
quilts also had meanings beyond their aesthetic function. She
said: "Red represents blood. But I like to put it in quilts makes it brighter and show up. Blue is for truth. White is for
peace... When a person dies you see the family wear all
black. In a quilt that doesn't represent mourning. That makes
it show up. They say that gold is for love. Silver is for
peace.
Brass is for trouble.... Yellow is like gold; it means love."
13. For example, their reluctance may stem from the incompatibility of Vodun symbols with Christianity.
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H.J. DREWAL,notes, from page 40
1. Fieldwork in 1982 for this study was made possible by a
grant awarded to Margaret Thompson Drewal, John Pemberfor the
ton, and me from the National Endowment
Humanities, a federal agency that supports the study of such
fields as history, art history, philosophy, literature, and languages. In addition, an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in the
Department of Primitive Art at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in 1985-86 provided the opportunity for archival research
and writing. I deeply appreciate the support of both institutions. I am also pleased to acknowledge the University of Ife,
Nigeria, for a research affiliation and the Nigerian Museum
for permission to study its archives and collections. Thanks
are especially due Margaret Thompson Drewal for field research assistance, and my Yoruba friends, colleagues, and respondents for providing information and insights concerning the water spirits and the arts in their honor. I dedicate this
essay to the memory of Robert Plant Armstrong, who
explored the depths of Yoruba aesthetic expression.
2. These include Oya of the Niger River, Yemoja of the Ogun
River, Yewa, Oshun, and Oba of the rivers that bear their
names, Osa of the lagoon, and Olokun of the sea, as well as
other important but more localized and less famous ones
found throughout Yorubaland.
3. According to Ijo belief, performances to entertain and
honor the water people were brought by the culture heroine,
Ekineba, who was abducted by the water spirits and taken to
their home where she witnessed their singing, dancing, and
drumming. She later taught these arts to her people, thus
creating the Ekine water-spirit masquerades (Horton 1960;
1963). A longer discussion of artistic traditions of the Delta
and their relationship to Ijebu art history and belief is in preparation.
4. According to Abraham (1958:171-72), ebi connotes guilt,
sin, or untruthfulness, ideas that may have some relationship
to the Ebi rite. There seems to be an overt attempt to release
suppressed concerns, for example when people openly criticize their rulers and elders. Fears about antisocial individuals
also come out into the open in the invocations of death to
wizards and witches. It seems, therefore, that Ebi is a
sanctioned communal rite of catharsis in which the air is literally and figuratively cleared (of negative forces). It is catharsis
in its original Aristotelian sense of "the purifying or relieving
of emotions by art" (Webster's 1966:231). For an excellent account of Ebi-Woro and other Ijebu rites see Ogunba 1967.
5. In one town, at the conclusion of the festival, children
carry woro leaves to the palace where the king blesses them
using the following procedure: they come forward and kneel,
strike two bunches of leaves held in both hands three times
on the ground and three times on their backs, and then hand
them over to the king, who prays as he touches their backs
three times with the leaves.
CONTRIBUTORS
DANIELJ. CROWLEYis Professor of Anthropologyand Professor of Artat the Universityof
California,Davis, and a memberof the AfricanArts consultingeditorialboard.
HENRYJOHNDREWAL,
currentlya ResearchAssociateat the Universityof Ifewhileon a National
Endowmentforthe Humanitiesgrant,willresumehis AndrewW.MellonFellowshipatthe Metropolitan Museumof Artin January1987.
MARGARET
DREWAL
THOMPSON
is presentlya ResearchAssociateatthe University
of Ifewhile
doing fieldworkunder a NationalEndowmentfor the Humanitiesgrant. She will returnto the
inJanuaryto completeworkforherPh.D.
Departmentof PerformanceStudies,NewYorkUniversity,
DANIELMcCALLis ProfessorEmeritusof Anthropologyand Research Associate in the African
Studies Center,Boston University.
PHILIPM. PEEK,Associate Professor of Anthropology,conducted research in Nigeriaand is
teaching anthropologyand folkloreat DrewUniversity.
MAUDESOUTHWELL
WAHLMAN
is Associate Professorand Chairmanof the ArtDepartment,
Universityof CentralFlorida,Orlando.Herpaperis based on a chapterfromherforthcomingbook,
TheArtof Afro-AmericanQuiltmaking.
FRANKWILLETT,
Directorof the HunterianMuseum,The Universityof Glasgow,was Professorof
AfricanArtat NorthwesternUniversityfrom1966 to 1976.
99
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