Janus: T.J. Alldridge Sierra Leone collection, 1890s

RCS/Y30446F contains:
<-- See earlier
15	Landscape with cattle grazing outside the town of Sinkunia, Dembella country, Protectorate of Sierra Leone
16	Town of Sinkunia, Dembella country, Protectorate of Sierra Leone
17	A forest of oil palms, 1000 yards inland from Sulima, Sherbro District, Sierra Leone. Photographed January 1898
18	A princess of Dama Country, Upper Mendi
19	The cemetery at Waima, showing the graves of the British officers and men who fell when the place was attacked by the French under Lieut. Moritz, December 1893. Lieut. Moritz is also buried in the first enclosure
20	A country loom, Massaia, Warra Warra Limba Country, Protectorate of Sierra Leone
21	Native carriers bringing down produce, packed in palm leaf hampers carried on their backs. Mendi Country
22	Dancing women in Upper Mendi, wearing a musical appendage called the Bunjue. Jowati, Upper Mendi
23	The Bundu Devil peculiar to the Mendi Country
24	The Bundu Devil attended by her satellites, a country institution common throughout Mendi Land
25	Native warboys, Bombari Country, Upper Mendi
See later -->

T.J. Alldridge Sierra Leone collection, 1890s

Title	A country loom, Massaia, Warra Warra Limba Country, Protectorate of Sierra Leone
Reference	Y30446F/20
Extent and Medium	Good condition, apart from slight yellowing.

Content and context

157 x 111 mm. Showing a Mendi man standing beside a large wooden loom, the framework construction serving as a frame to hold the cotton which is fed into the weaving apparatus in the foreground. Alldridge was much impressed by the quality of material manufactured in the Sierra Leone hinterland: 'The Gallinas in Lower Mendi undoubtedly take the first honours in artistic treatment of colours. The up-country people appear to know only blue and white, or black and white, and have no designs beyond stripes. I am sure if these cloths were known in England they would be much appreciated and used ... This is a native industry which if encouraged by the British would give employment to thousands of people. A very primitive method of treating indigo produces the most beautiful light and shade that is a real pleasure to the artistic sense...'

The weaving of the cloth is entirely the work of the men, the women's part ceasing with the ginning and the spinning ... They then set up the loom in some convenient spot, as shown in Figure 31 [i.e. this print], and proceed with the work, which takes a long time; but when once completed these cloths are of endless wear. They are accepted as currency, the price ranging from 2s to as much as two heads of money, £6.' (Alldridge 1901, pages 99-100).

Further information