Display Cloth (ndop)

Artist Bamum or Bamileke artist

Datemid 20th century

MediumHandwoven cotton, industrial woven cotton, and indigo dye

Dimensions92 x 134 in. (233.7 x 340.4 cm)

ClassificationsTextiles

Credit LineGift of Dr. James W. Lankton

Object number2002.13

On View

Not on view

Label TextNdop cloth is created using a stitch-resist dyeing technique. Sections of plain cloth are tightly stitched to ensure that when the cloth is dyed, the indigo doesn’t reach those areas. After, the stitches are removed to reveal the pattern.

Stitch-resist cloth was likely introduced to the Grasslands by immigrants from contemporary Nigeria. By the 1910s Bamum’s King Njoya established a royal ndop monopoly with over 300 looms. The diamond shape enclosing many triangles on this cloth symbolizes a leopard, a sign of high authority.
[A. Maples, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2022]ProvenanceDr. James W. Lankton, Winston-Salem, NC; given to NCMA 2002.Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–December 9, 2024. Object Rights Statement

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