The Shape of Fashion The Historic Silk Brocades (akotifahana) of Highland

Sarah Fee

oven from lustrous “Chinese” silk, with from medieval times. As with the emergence of figured cloths intricate patterns of riotous color, the elsewhere in Africa, akotifahana production grew from profes- large mantles known as akotifahana sional weavers’ ongoing experimentations with imported fibers, were made in the dyes, and patterns in response to a phenomenal expansion of Madagascar’s central highlands to in trade and wealth and changing consumer demand. In this dress elites in their lifetimes and wrap instance, however, royal patronage was limited and largely indi- their revered dead for burial. The most prestigious and costly rect. The demonstrable diversity and fluidity in the art form can highlandW weaving of the nineteenth century, they were gifted by be linked to its status as elite—and changing—fashion, the indi- Merina kings and queens to high-ranking subjects and foreign vidualized expressions of weavers and their clients. allies. Europeans, too, much admired akotifahana, comparing them to “old and beautiful cashmeres” (Carol 1898:229). Con- SourceS and Supplementary weftS sequently, they make up a significant part of historic Malagasy The lamba akotifahana (Fig. 1) or, more simply, akotifahana, textile collections, while contemporary “revival” akotifahana is a variety of the Malagasy rectangular shoulder mantle known weaving is generating new museum acquisitions and displays. as lamba. The lamba is constructed of two to four narrow panels Despite their sustained renown, akotifahana remain the least of cloth seamed along the lengths and finished with some type known of the intricately patterned, brocaded textiles which of fringe, to measure around 2.5 x 1.5 m. In testimony to the ori- emerged in various parts of Africa at the turn of the eighteenth gins of the Malagasy people, whose first settlers arrived from century (Aronson 1980, Gilfoy 1987, Kriger 2006). Studies of ako- Southeast Asia (today’s Indonesia) around 300 ce, women across tifahana remain scattered and partial.1 They also offer a wide—if Madagascar used single-heddle horizontal looms to weave these not conflicting—range of interpretations, that the cloth type is rectangular pieces of dress.3 Made of raffia leaf, bast, cotton, or “sacred,” “royal,” a “shroud” (lambamena), an insignia of politi- indigenous ”wild” silk (Borocera), lamba are typified by warp cal rank, a slate of religious symbols, or a tradition invented or stripes in shades of brick-red, deep blue or black, yellow, and destroyed by European colonial ambitions. Recent general works white (or the natural shade of the base fiber). These four colors may perpetuate discredited theories, that patterns were brought further relate to cosmological systems and the powers of cardi- from Southeast Asia by Madagascar’s first settlers, or represent nal directions, people, and things. Malagasy men and women “trees of life” (Spring and Hudson 2002:74).2 wore lamba about the shoulders as protective covering to ward This essay aims to reconsider existing interpretations of high- off the cold or unwanted gazes and as ceremonial dress whose land Madagascar’s silk brocades in light of new visual and tex- fiber and decoration embodied status and group affiliation. The tual sources, as well as research with contemporary weavers. My various manners for wrapping mantles expressed a wide range of research suggests that early influences came not from Southeast emotions, from dignity to anger to love. To this day, cloth is the Asia, nor primarily from Europe, but from India and southern essential gift for sealing and sustaining social relations. Arabia, with which the island enjoyed strong commercial ties Yet, in several important ways, akotifahana differ from other

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 26 5/16/13 3:02 AM 1 Wearing the shoulder mantle lamba Albumen print, John Parrett, c. 1865.

The two men to the left wear brocaded cloths. The standing man to the right wears a similar striping style without supplementary wefts. This photo, entitled “Malagasy bearers” was part of a staged series, the costly cloths undoubtedly belonging to the missionary owner. PhoTo: CounCil for World Mission ArChive, soAs librAry, CWM/lMs/MA/PhoTo/02/002/161

2 detail of a brocaded silk mantle Merina, 2nd to 3rd quarter of the 19th c. bombyx silk, natural dyes, supplementary wefts, transverse selvage; 252 cm x 156 cm PhoTo: CourTesy GAllery berdJ AChdJiAn, PAris

in this extraordinary work, few of the motifs are repeated exactly the same way twice.

Malagasy shoulder mantles. First is their fiber. Most known examples are made entirely of Chinese silk (Bombyx mori), a fiber not indigenous to the island, distinctive for its sheen and light texture. So, too, the akotifahana color palette departs con- spicuously from the historic color scheme. Nineteenth century examples employ vivid hues of magenta, red, orange, peacock blue, yellow, green, purple, and pink (Fig. 2), or a white-on- white scheme. Thirdly, akotifahana weaving was restricted to a small area of Madagascar, to the mountainous interior known as Imerina, home to a people and kingdom known, by the 1800s, as important public occasions, and by the upper classes of both sexes the Merina.4 Finally, and most strikingly, the cloth is unusual for on special festivals. They are a favorite “curio” for foreigners on the its effusive patterning, its profusion of motifs running along the look-out for something distinctive of manufacturing art (Wills length of the cloth. 1885:93). Akotifahana motifs are made with supplementary weft floats, also known as brocading, which entails inserting an additional Motifs, too, drew surprisingly little commentary: “a peculiar thread into the ground weave and “floating” it over and under kind of square leaf or flower introduced into the stripes, and var- warp threads. The Merina technique employs a second heddle ious combinations of small diamond-shaped patterns” (Sibree of long leashes (hara-dava) looped round the warp threads to be 1880:262).8 Visual images of the cloth in situ are exceedingly rare patterned (Giambrone 1970) (Fig. 3). The weaver uses the leashes and, until recently, only a small pool of examples—namely those to lift the appropriate number of warps, then passes the supple- held in the British Museum—was known and published. mentary thread beneath, building the motif row by row, right Largely limited to these sources, pioneering Malagasy textile to left, then left to right.5 The cloth is not reversible, the design scholar John Mack first supposed that the unusual, intricate pat- being limited to one side.6 terns were produced on “machine-driven looms” as “an exer- Hindering research, the historic record reveals little about the cise in skill for sale to Europeans” (Picton and Mack 1979:142, akotifahana. The earliest eyewitness account of Imerina dates Mack 1986:65). When his later fieldwork revealed that they are only to 1777, followed by major gaps from 1785 to 1816 and 1838 handwoven on the Malagasy ground loom, Mack proposed very to 1863, all critical moments in Merina weaving history. The first different interpretations. These sumptuous silks were made not known written use of the term akotifahana does not appear until for “marketable purposes but for sacred ones,” serving “to dis- 1870 (Giambrone 1970).7 Early European sources may refer to tinguish grades within the aristocracy, the design as well as the “brightly colored” or “variegated” silks, but rarely directly signal stripes of color encoding political rank” (Mack 1989:47). Euro- woven patterning. The most comprehensive historic description pean involvement nevertheless shaped their history: British mis- of Merina brocaded silks is both late and brief: sionary artisans introduced the dyes that gave rise to them, but Some … are … white with raised woven patterns; others again are inappropriately tried to commoditize them, while French col- of various colors, obtained mostly from imported dyes, and in many onization from 1896, in abolishing the monarchy, caused pro- cases, having elaborate woven patterns resembling embroidery ... duction to cease (Mack 1989:50, 1993:304). Furthering the first These lamba are worn by the non-military chiefs of the people on interpretation, Simon Peers (1997) holds that brocaded silks were

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 27 5/16/13 3:02 AM “royal lamba,” “woven for … Merina monarchs,” and probably worn by court officials as badges of rank (voninahitra), their motifs holding now-forgotten religious significance. Concerning European involvement, however, Peers (2004) raises doubts, noting the earlier influences of Indian and Arab traders, and that the wearing of colored akotifa- hana had waned before 1896. Pursuing this last point, analyzing the range of the art form as well as Malagasy conceptualizations of the cloth (past and present), I aim to show that rather than rig- idly encoding rank, religion, or royal affiliations, the multicolored akotifahana was a short-lived and dynamic elite dress fashion, driven by a synergy of changing consumer demand and artistic innovation.

material baSicS: StripeS and motifS The most iconic akotifahana brocaded silk is a complex masterpiece in the British Museum, collected by Quaker missionary John Sims after 1884.9 Its surface is covered in pairs of large motifs separated by narrow brocaded striping. A piece of similar design from the Peabody Essex Museum is shown in Figure 4. The Sims cloth has featured in the major published works on Merina weaving and inspired most of the contemporary ako- tifahana which museums in North America have acquired from Lamba SARL, an atelier based in , founded by Simon Peers in the 1990s.10 Yet the study of a wide pool of pieces—found in private and public collections in France, the United States, Ger- many, Canada and, formerly, Madagascar—confirms there existed a “considerable variety of pattern and coloring” (Sibree 1880:262); what’s more, it suggests that large and profuse motifs probably represent a relatively rare, and late, akotifahana subtype.11 Critical to assessing physical objects—which often lack provenance and documentation— is the overlooked Merina-authored work known as the “Ombiasy Manuscript” (Giambrone 1970).12 Written from 1868–70, reportedly by a former diviner-astrologer (ombiasy) to the Merina royal court, this treatise on highland customs and history devotes a long chapter to weaving, which I have translated, analyzed, and annotated elsewhere (Fee 2012). The Ombiasy Manuscript reveals that, at the time, the striping of a cloth, rather than the presence of brocaded motifs, was usually its most salient aesthetic and cultural feature. The manuscript is at great pains to describe the major striping patterns of the day, includ- ing the lambamena (literally “red cloth”), a cloth of brick-red ground with two prominent black stripes toward the selvedges. The Manuscript notes, almost incidentally, that weav- ers could embellish the black stripes of the cloth with either supplementary weft floats (akotifahana) or warp floats (valoharaka). In the former case, the cloth was known as misy akotifahana, “with supplementary wefts.” In other words, weft floats were typically optional embellishments added to pre-existing striping patterns, rather than definers of

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 28 5/16/13 3:02 AM (opposite, clockwise from top left) 3 The Malagasy single heddle ground loom adapted for making supplementary wefts. A second heddle with long leashes (hara-dava), suspended from two iron rods, allows the weaver to more easily lift the warp threads to pass the extra weft. PhoTo: PosTCArd, PrivATe ColleCTion

4 detail of a border panel of a four-panel silk mantle (akotifahana) Merina, c. 1880 bombyx silk, natural and probably aniline dyes, supplementary wefts; 240 cm x 54 cm Peabody essex Museum 27,567 PhoTo: CourTesy of The PeAbody essex MuseuM, sAleM, MAssAChuseTTs

5 detail of a brocaded cloth Merina, 2nd to 3rd quarter of the 19th century bombyx silk, cotton, natural dyes, supplementary wefts, ikat, warp floats, transverse selvage; 264.5 cm x 166.5 cm Musée du Quai branly, 73.2012.0.1071 PhoTo: ©sCAlA, florenCe, 2013

in addition to the supplementary wefts, the piece is embellished with warp floats, and ikat in the trans- verse selvage.

(this page) 6 Andriantsihena, second ambassador. from Portraits of the officers comprising the embassy from the Queen of Madagascar to England in the year 1837, taken from life and zincographed by J.W. Sperling. PhoTo: soAs librAry CWMl v300

a cloth type in and of itself (see Fig. 1). Revealingly, the Ombiasy Merina brocaded silks—much rarer than colored versions—usu- Manuscript refers to motifs as haingo, “ornamentation, decora- ally dispense with stripes although they still often stack motifs tion,” as do other nineteenth century sources vertically. As noted earlier, the British Museum Sims cloth has contemporary to it (Callet 1974 IV:709). modest striping, with large motifs overwhelming the surface. I While no extant brocaded lambamena is known, a spectacular return to these types at the end of this essay. mantle in the Musée du Quai Branly gives some indication how it Like striping, motifs can be seen to follow general formal would have appeared (Fig. 5). Many Merina brocaded silks exhibit properties, falling into two basic types. The first are ostensibly a similar restrained use of supplementary wefts. The earliest visual geometric: lozenges, X-shapes, and waves or zigzags. The second depictions of the cloth are found in the portraits of six ambas- are more obviously figurative, with stylized vegetation predomi- sadors sent on diplomatic mission to England in 1837 by Queen nating. All motifs are typically frontal and of biaxial symmetry, . All high-ranking “officers” in the court civil service, that is, their right and left halves are mirror images, probably a the six men wear striped lamba, four with woven patterning. The mnemonic device to ease and speed fabrication (Domeni chini- mostly geometric figures appear in one or two narrow stripes near Andrianina 1988:39). In the finest works, a stripe may contain the selvedge and/or towards the center of the cloth.13 Most resplen- over thirty figures, with none repeated exactly the same way dent is the mantle of second ranking officer Andriantsihena, with twice. More usually, there is a pattern repeat of three or four its two stripes containing lozenges, pinnate leaves, and possible motifs. Providing visual balance, motif colors are typically drawn floral heads in supplementary wefts (Fig. 6). Similarly, the arin- from those of neighboring stripes. drano cloth, popular throughout the late nineteenth century, dis- As I discuss in the final section, within these broad parameters, tinctive for its narrow black and white striped centerfield, might weavers widely innovated. And, while dating Merina brocaded contain a brocaded stripe near each selvedge (Fig. 7). Beyond silks is challenging, there is strong evidence that design changed borders, weavers might place narrow brocaded stripes across the over time, tied to fashion trends and artistic experimentation. cloth to flank and accentuate wider defining stripes, as seen in a Motifs grew ever larger and came to occupy much of the surface of masterful example from the Musée du Quai Branly (Fig. 8). the cloth, with stripes receding. As a result, brocaded cloth came A significant number of extant “akotifahana” belong to a sin- to be called generically akotifahana—or, more usually, akotofah- gle distinctive striping pattern, which we can now identify as ana or kotofahana—rather than by the name of its striping pat- the arosy, thanks to the Ombiasy Manuscript. Its centerfield fea- tern. These transformations and the “meanings” of motifs can only tures sets of black and blue stripes, each composed of ten yarns, be appreciated by first identifying Merina brocaded silks’ consum- placed on a purple or magenta ground the width of the palm of ers and weavers and their means of circulation. the hand (Fig. 9, see also Fig. 1). The coloring effectively mimics the iridescent blue-black plumage of the arosy duck (Sarkidiornis commercial weaving, indian ocean connectionS, melanotos) for which the cloth is named.14 The motifs taking sec- and bombyx Silk ond seat to striping, an embellished cloth was called arosy misy Understanding the roots of akotifahana and possible influences akotifahana, “arosy with supplementary weft designs.” Neverthe- requires breaking past two stubborn misperceptions. The first is less, brocading greatly contributed to value, for the embellished that Imerina was an isolated interior enclave before the coming of arosy sold at market for twice the price of the plain version, mak- British envoys in 1815 or as late as French colonization in 1896. The ing it by far the most expensive cloth of the day. second is that highland weavers were similarly insular, producing Notable exceptions existed to the striping rule. White-on-white only for their immediate families and ancestral rites.

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 29 5/16/13 3:02 AM 7 Cotton and silk striped mantle (arindrano) with brocaded borders Merina, c. 1882 Cotton, bombyx silk, natural and aniline dyes, supplementary wefts; 210 cm x 180 cm dresden ethnographic Museum 19106 PhoTo: evA Winkles

8 overview and detail of a brocaded silk mantle Merina, c. 2nd to 3rd quarter 19th century bombyx silk, natural dyes, supplementary wefts; 207 cm x 110 cm Musée du Quai branly 73.14993 PhoTo: ©sCAlA, florenCe, 2013

The most recent historical studies on Imerina stress that from at least the 1600s the region was heavily involved in international trade (Ratsivalaka 1995, Campbell 1991 and 2005, Larson 2000). Responding to a precarious agricultural base, leaders undertook mas- sive public irrigation works to improve rice farming; but so, too, they encouraged trade. Swahili and Arabs merchants regularly sailed up the Betsiboka River to attain Imerina from the west, while European traders walked up from the east. The Merina, too, portered goods to the coasts. Their major item of exchange: the products of local smithing and weaving. “[T]he inferiority of the soil required of them [artisanal] labor” (d’Unienville 1815:20r). Up to one third of the male population were part- or full-time smiths, working local iron into everything from scissors to hoe blades and imported silver and gold into exquisite jewelry. But it was women and weaving that contributed most substantially to the early modern Merina economy. Long acknowledged for continental Africa, the commercial orientation of much cloth-making in Madagascar has now been recognized. By at least the eighteenth cen- tury, a majority of Merina women were professional or semi-professional weavers, their products channeled into a sophisticated network of weekly markets (Campbell 2005, Larson 2000). Nicolas Mayeur, author of the first eyewitness monograph on the high- lands, carefully documented the area’s weaving in 1777 and 1785. He famously observed “It is customary that women in this country do no tiring [sic] work. Their singular occu- pation is working silk and cotton, and preparing the leaves of banana and raffia, and making mats” (1913b:168). Dyes at the time were limited to red, blue, and yellow and added embellishment to glass and tin beads. The most valuable and prestigious cloths

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 30 5/16/13 3:02 AM 9 overview and detail of the arosy cloth embellished with supplementary wefts Merina, c.1884 bombyx silk, natural and synthetic dyes, supplementary wefts; 225 cm x 160 cm roM 948.121. former collection of reverend George Cousins PhoTo: WiTh PerMission of The royAl onTArio MuseuM © roM

dye analysis show the red syn- thetic color used in the cloth was invented in 1882.

head in metal jewelry, wearing “silk cloth which is brought from the interior” (Grandidier and Grandidier 1920:63) for which they offered prayers of thanks (Chapelier 1905–06:23). Imerina’s cotton and banana-fiber cloths, too, were in strong demand. From the late eighteenth century Imerina came to dominate the island’s external trade, with consequences for highland weav- ers. From 1782, legendary king took control of the export slave trade, using the profits to unify the region’s districts, further facilitating trade. Wealth, power, for- eign goods, and merchants flowed in great degree to the high- lands. Beyond arms, silks from Northwest India were in high demand. Merina traders insisted that European merchants pay them in silver coins, rather than trade goods, apparently so they might purchase from Indian and Arab merchants the “cottons and silks of Surat [India]” (Mayeur 1913a:37). Swahili, Arab, and Malagasy traders obligingly carried Indian textiles to Merina vil- were made from an indigenous silk, from the cocoons of the lages and markets or sold them from shops in Antananarivo. endemic Borocera moth species, which were spun like cotton. I have discussed elsewhere (Fee 2011) how, rather than dampen Chief among them was a thick blue-striped shoulder wrapper local weaving, textile imports stimulated production and innova- woven all over with designs in tin or silver beads, known as “cov- tion. By the close of the eighteenth century Merina weavers were ered in silver” (mandiavola), worth an extraordinary 10 to 150 outcompeting foreign goods and incorporating exotic materials, piasters, or six to eight slaves (Fig. 10). This high value was due such as coral, silver discs, and glass beads. Special efforts seem to in part to esoteric associations: Borocera is associated with matu- have been aimed at producing a finer, glossier fiber by improv- rity, authority, nobility, ancestors, and the creator spirit him- ing Borocera sericulture through semi-domestication and perhaps self.15 Forty years later, British agents similarly described a robust employing spider’s silk (Hugon 1808; Mayeur 1913a:36, 159; Poisson weaving scene across central Imerina, a dye pot in most houses, 1940:3). The adoption of Chinese silk (Bombyx mori) was a defini- “every woman in the country” busy at looms, and the markets in tive innovation in this direction. Bombyx—a moth domesticated around Antananarivo, Imerina’s royal seat, “stocked with home- in China that feeds exclusively on leaves of the mulberry bush made cloths” and weaving supplies, with up to 300 specialized (Morus sp.)—produces a continuous filament that can be unreeled cocoon traders gathered at a single market (Hastie 1903:188–91, in a single strand, creating an unparalleled glossy surface. The Rowlands 1826, Valette 1963).16 term akotifahana (akoty + fahana) itself suggests that Merina It has been suggested that weavers themselves or the royal weavers were originally attempting to emulate the patterning of court stimulated the high levels of Merina cloth production, but an Indian Bombyx cloth. Fahana in Malagasy means “weft”, while evidence shows it was driven by local consumer demand.17 Until akoty (acoutis) was the name of the primary silk textile imported 1775, it emanated primarily from the island’s coastal populations from Gujarat in the late 1700s (Dumaine 1810a:28).19 who then controlled international trade.18 With settlements of The surge in Merina Bombyx weaving was further encouraged up to 6,000 Arab and Indian merchants, the west coast had long by an uptick in supply. Mayeur did not observe Bombyx seri- enjoyed strong commercial ties with the Swahili world. From 1750, culture in Imerina and pointedly recommended introducing it. Madagascar’s east coast came to engage in intensive trade with Instead, the silk was initially imported as floss. The main source French planters on the small offshore islands of Reunion (Bour- can be traced to Oman in southern Arabia. By the late 1700s, bon) and (Ile de France). Coastal populations chan- Oman’s merchant-rulers controlled the rich Persian Gulf sup- neled much of their wealth into dress, the primary manifestation plies of silk. They channeled a portion into Oman’s own weav- of status and sacred efficacy (hasina). East coast elites in particu- ing industry, but a significant part they re-exported, including lar chose Merina-made wares, covering themselves from ankles to to their rising commercial empire in . In the busy

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 31 5/16/13 3:02 AM 10 overview and detail of the “covered in silk” (mandiavola) Merina,c. 1858–63 borocerasilk, natural dyes, metal beads; . 246 cm x 160 cm roM 947.1.6. former collection of William ellis PhoTo: WiTh PerMission of The royAl onTArio MuseuM © roM

and striping aesthetics of several Omani-made cloths, including the turban worn by Omani royals and dignitaries of the Swahili coast. The fringe finishing characteristic of Merina silks of the mid-nineteenth century—a woven end band with balled fringe (see Figs. 2, 5, 8)—may likewise be traced with some certainty to southern Arabian influence. European contributions to highland Malagasy Bombyx weav- ing were arguably less radical. A close reading of archival sources shows that London Missionary Society artisans, active in Ime- rina from 1822, mainly focused their short-lived efforts on cot- ton weaving. They did not introduce new dyes, as some authors assert (Mack 1993:304, Spring and Hudson:2002:77), but encoun- tered the “rich colored silk … imported by the Arabs” (Rowlands 1826).23 Where the British did have impact was introducing Bom- byx sericulture to the island. From 1815 the British governor of neighboring Mauritius island encouraged Merina King Radama I to make Bombyx weaving an income generator for the Merina crown, sending mulberry bushes, worms, and reeling machines, as well as Bengali convict laborers to instruct the population (Peers 1997, Anderson 2000).24 Radama’s attempts to propagate Bombyx weaving center of highlands Madagascar, Oman’s silk floss was sericulture as a state enterprise quickly collapsed, but the tech- highly desired, with Arab and Indian merchants carrying it there niques spread to Merina villages where foreign associations came from at least 1817 (Ellis 1838:338, 339, Hastie 1903:191). Initially to permanently attach to the fiber. Malagasy terms for Bombyx— extremely expensive, it was used to make established striping “foreigner’s silk” (landimbazaha), “little silk” (landikely), or “lasoa” styles or in combination with Borocera to create new ones (Ellis (from the French, la soie)—are constructed in antithesis to indig- 1838:279, Giambrone 1970:111) (Fig. 11). enous, ancestral Borcera, known as “Merina silk” (landy Imerina), Omani silk floss proved more than a raw material; it helped or “big silk” (landibe). The ambiguous status of Bombyx likely fur- shape and drive Merina Bombyx weaving. It likely contributed ther unleashed experimentations with color and design.25 to the shift in color palette, away from the historic four-part scheme that Mayeur still observed in 1777. Dyeing the new fiber royalS and weaverS proved challenging to Merina weavers, who initially imported In recent decades, some scholars, collectors, art dealers, and pre-dyed skeins (Coppalle 1909:56, Ellis 1838:327, Rowlands Merina weavers of brocaded silks have labeled the cloth type as 1826).20 Red- or magenta-colored floss from Oman, known as “royal,” implying it was primarily produced for, worn by, or asso- sili-mena and masikaty (i.e. Muscat), was especially prized.21 ciated with sovereigns or the royal family. Compelling as this Purple, blue, yellow, and orange were the other colors report- narrative may be, the historic record shows the Merina monarchy edly favored in Imerina around 1820.22 Not coincidentally, these was a very limited patron and consumer of the cloth type. Con- were the shades of Omani turbans and hip wraps, then a fash- cerning the identity of akotifahana weavers, an accumulation of ion sensation in much of East Africa, including Madagascar. By oral traditions persuasively shows that they were independent the 1840s, the Merina court was carrying on diplomatic relations female artisans of noble clans residing outside Antananarivo. with the Sultan of Oman (recently relocated to Zanzibar) and By all indicators, neither the sovereign nor the royal fam- had adopted a variety of Arab textiles. The striping of the arosy ily dressed in akotifahana. Keen observers of costume, Europe- cloth described above (see Fig. 9) resembles the color scheme ans from 1815 habitually described monarchs and other Merina

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 32 5/16/13 3:02 AM elites clothed in European-style tailored garments. Queens from the 1830s to 1870s were observed to occasionally wear a mantle over their dress—often custom ordered from the finest dressmakers in Europe—but these mantles are usually described as white.26 Monarchs were required to wear shoulder wraps for customary rites such as the lunar New Year, but ancestrally sanctioned Borocera was the choice.27 Indeed, by at least 1815, sumptuary laws had largely shifted from locally woven to imported fabrics. As in much of Africa, in Imerina richly saturated red woolen cloth (jaky) became royal insignia. “The royal lamba, which is held in highest estimation, is of fine scarlet English broad-cloth, bordered and richly ornamented with gold lace …. worn by the king on sacred festivals, and other state occasions” (Ellis 1838:279). A dozen brocaded silks— their motifs confined to the selvedges—appear to have been found in the royal tombs of when they were opened in 1896, but were vastly outnumbered by Boroc- era red lambamena and luxurious imported cloth.28 As sparse as the record may be, it argues that neither did the Merina court directly patronize Bombyx silk weaving. Textile-related royal guilds were confined to indigo dyeing, cotton weaving, and hemp cultivation (Campbell 2005:125).29 Sovereigns were limited patrons of brocaded silks in that they bestowed them as diplomatic gifts, along with many other types of cloth, both handmade and imported. The careful records kept by court secretaries from 1875 show that recipients of akotifahana included foreign dig- nitaries, and Malagasy subjects, both Merina and non-Merina, ranked court officers as well as civilians. They further indicate that the court purchased akotifahana and do not specify any particular pattern in association with recipients.30 Judges were apparently the only state officials to mark their position and authority through wearing locally woven shoulder mantles (red lambamena). For the thousands of others in the crown’s large and highly structured civil and military service “the only distinctive marks of office … are as such introduced by Europeans” (Ellis 1838:282–83). These included pants, suitcoats, hats, gold and silver lace or braid, sabers, epaulettes, and shoes. Rather than lamba, it 11 ”edges in bombyx silk” (sisin-dasoa) Merina,c. 1858–63 borocera silk, bombyx silk,natural dyes, transverse selvedge; 269 cm x 154 cm roM 901.1.10. former collection of William ellis. PhoTo: WiTh PerMission of The royAl onTArio MuseuM © roM

This piece combines a brick-red borocera center with bombyx stripes at the borders.

12 overview and detail of a brocaded silk mantle (akotifahana) with checkerboard pattern. Merina, last quarter of 19th century bombyx silk, dyes, twining PhoTo: GAllery berdJ AChdJiAn, PAris

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 33 5/16/13 3:03 AM additional villages by Christine Athenor (n.d.) and myself have confirmed and added to this corpus.35 Class, gender, and proximity to Antananarivo may each par- tially explain the historic monopoly and success of Andrian- dranando and Andrianamboninolona brocade weavers. Bombyx, like local Borocera silk, is associated with notions of purity and nobility. Silkworms are said to perish from contact with pollut- ing substances and silk is connected on deep cosmological levels with nobility (Green 1996). Bombyx weaving was thus fittingly the preserve of noble clans.36 As women, weavers also had a dis- tinct advantage. Male artisans, conscripted into unremunerated lifetime royal service, producing to the dictates of the sovereign, came to hide their skills, or fled altogether, their arts stagnating (Campbell 2005).37 Female weavers, on the other hand, exempt from royal corvée and working as independent artisans, were free to experiment and innovate for the changing tastes of the 13 details of roM 2010.27.2 and 2010.75.1. Common plant forms of Merina silk brocades. left to right: paired serrated leaves and varieties of angular market, which they did to a remarkable degree. Finally, located leaves; ”button hole” (lavabokotra); “embroidery” (amboradao) above and just a day’s walk to the capital city, where their male kin pro- unnamed form below. duced for the court, weavers of Avaradrano had access to wealthy PhoTo: WiTh PerMission of The royAl onTArio MuseuM © roM clients and to the most recent, and changing, fashions.

was engraved silver medals that indicated precise rank (vonina- elite faShion hitra) in the official state service, which by 1870 numbered six- Lambas with striped borders are favourites with the natives: but there teen grades in all. is a fashion in these things, and the fashion changes in Antananarivo, All the same, weaving brocaded silks was clearly a special- as well as in Paris (Mullens 1875:138). ized activity. As is still the case today, the fine hand skills and memorization of motifs require the sustained practice of the Rather than fall victim to French , as Mack initially professional. Historic sources attest that by the last quarter of proposed, colored brocaded silks reached their peak popular- the eighteenth century Merina weavers were highly specialized ity in the third quarter of the nineteenth century and waned as in discrete aspects of producing, processing, and weaving par- a dress mode long before the arrival of French troops in 1896 ticular fibers. Commenting specifically on Bombyx brocades (Peers 1997:83).38 In addition, they changed considerably over (kotofahana), the Tantara ny , a compilation of Merina- authored manuscripts compiled in the 1870s, states that few 14 details of roM 948.121. other weavers initially mastered the technique (Callet 1974 IV:710). As common motifs. Clockwise from left: a consequence, the cloths were at first exorbitantly expensive, “explosion” (bepoaka); cross or “double 100 piastres for the best quality; when knowledge spread, the throwing knife” (vokovoko); “spinning 31 top” (sangodana). price dropped to 70 piastres, and then finally to 20. PhoTo: WiTh PerMission of The royAl The historic record may be silent on the identity of the weav- onTArio MuseuM © roM ers of akotifahana, but a variety of oral traditions indicates they resided in the Avaradrano district just east of Antananarivo.32 More particularly, weaving brocades was the preserve of Imerina’s most famous artisan groups, the Andriandranando and Andri- anamboniolona. These groups form part of the Andrianateloray, the sixth (and lowest) ranked of Merina noble clans. The renown of their male smiths—particularly the Andriandranando—is recorded for posterity, but practically no written information exists on their female weavers.33 The Tantara ny Andriana states that they had the honor (tombontsoa) of spinning Borocera silk for the sovereign (Callet 1974 I:304; 1974 III:714),34 and in the late nineteenth century they were known as important silk weavers (Guide de l’Immigrant 1898:206). Testimony directly linking them to brocaded Bombyx derives from field research carried out from 1981 with elderly Andriandranando weavers. Little- cited studies by Domenichini-Andrianina (1988) revealed that these women had for generations produced akotifahana for sale, that they still mastered nineteenth century motifs, and could provide the names and patterns for several of them. Fieldwork in

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 34 5/16/13 3:03 AM 15 overview and details of a brocaded silk mantle Merina, 3rd quarter, 19th century bombyx silk, natural and synthetic dyes, supplementary wefts, transverse selvedge; 273 cm x 165.5 cm roM 2012.68.1 PhoTo: WiTh PerMission of The royAl onTArio MuseuM © roM

A very rare example with human figures. Manuscript repeatedly stresses freedom in coloration and motif form: “each motif has a different color, either red, yellow, green, black, yellow-orange, whatever color one wants … then one makes designs/motifs of different shapes … whatever one desires.” Signif- icantly, the section ends with the proverb, “the love of cloth pat- terns: everyone chooses the designs they please” (fitia sora-damba, ka samy manao izay soratra tiany hatao), used to express individu- alized tastes (Giambrone 1970). Looking afresh at surviving cloth samples indeed reveals infinite variety within the broad stylistic parameters mapped out in the first part of this essay. their fifty-year existence as elite Merina dress, in synchrony with A comparative study shows the existence of about twenty core changing social and political circumstances and local and global motifs, with unending improvisations. These include the highly fashion trends. geometric: sets of zigzags, conjoined lozenges, X shapes, small Authoritative nineteenth century sources are consistent as to checkerboards, bisected hexagons.40 Malagasy texts speak of who was wearing figured silks: “Hova [Merina] chiefs on holi- human and bird motifs (Giambrone 1970, Commission Indigène days or public occasions” (Ellis 1859:341); “non-military chiefs 1898:378), but in surviving samples they are in fact very rare of the people on important public occasions, and by the upper (Fig. 12).41 Overwhelmingly, figurative shapes are stylized veg- classes of both sexes on special festivals” (Wills 1885:93). The etation. These mostly take the form of an erect central stem or term “upper classes” refers to the aristocracy (andriana), the six branch sprouting rows of opposite leaves, or flanked on either ranked noble lineages of Imerina, whose privileged relation to side by a vertical serrated leaf. The stem often springs from a silk has been noted above. The categories of “chiefs” and “non two-pronged base and is topped by small abstract floral heads military chiefs of the people” are more difficult to identify, as composed of small lozenges or four-pronged comb-like shapes. sociopolitical groupings and nomenclature changed often over Even so, the variety is endless. Leaves might be arched or rectan- the nineteenth century; likely they denote low-level leaders with gular, gracile or broad, veined or solid, flowers pendulant, erect, nominal or periodic state duties.39 Importantly, neither they nor or interspersed among leaves (Fig. 13). Motifs of all types could the nobility were automatically entitled to the European dress be outlined or filled in myriad ways. Extant akotifahana like- and accessories that signaled status and authority in nineteenth wise show immense variation in the choice and combination of century Imerina. Although it must remain speculative, it is pos- motifs within a single piece. Adding much to design movement sible that wearing brightly colored, costly brocaded Bombyx and complexity, small “filler” motifs might surround main fig- silks—sold at four times the price of Borocera cloths—represents ures. Most common are tiny lozenges, triangles, four-pronged efforts to match the showy, glittering, imported finery of court “combs”—perhaps artistic drift from floral heads—or a small officials, to assert distinction and fashionableness through the plant, identified by contemporary Andriandranando weavers as vehicle of the customary shoulder wrap. a shrub. Finally, weavers could further draw visual attention to Brocaded silks were available for purchase at market or received the brocaded stripes by flanking them with narrow columns of from monarchs, but the Ombiasy Manuscript implies they were warp floats or bands. largely commissioned, individualized creations resulting from a What were the sources of motifs? Rather than a singular ori- synergy between weaver and client. In describing brocades, the gin or one based in ancestral religion, they appear to have been

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 35 5/16/13 3:03 AM 16 brocaded “shawl” weavers are unequivocal it represents a plant, with stem, leaves (kotifahana saly) Merina ,c. 1880 (ravin-kazo), and roots; on a few historic pieces, the amborodao bombyx, silk, natural is topped by an obvious flower. All the same, weavers likely indi- dyes, supplementary vidually conceived of and executed shapes, for they variously wefts, warp floats; 237 cm x 24 cm employed and combined motif components. For instance, the roM 2010.27.3 peaked, four-pronged comb appears on different cloths as a dis- PhoTo: WiTh PerMission crete motif, a woman’s skirt, a floral head, roots or “fillers” placed of The royAl onTArio MuseuM © roM around the main motif; the vokovoko may be embellished to appear like plant leaves, thus further suggesting that, rather than fixed symbols, motifs were open to improvisation. In a broad sense, however, plant motifs, no matter their source, were appropriated and shaped in accordance with local thought systems. Breaking with the floral aesthetic of Indian and European arts, Merina brocaded silks overwhelmingly emphasize leaves (ravina) rather than flowers (vonin-kazo), which are typically reduced to small abstract forms. Where flowers are culturally unelaborated, leaves hold deep signifi- cance in Malagasy cosmology, symbolizing regeneration and forming the basis of the healing arts (Lefèvre et al. 2008). As dress design, they may have connoted, even imparted, these same life-giving, protective qualities. inspired by an eclectic variety of textile arts, objects of daily life, Beyond reflecting individual tastes of artists and consumers, and imports. Many geometric forms are found in pre-existing Merina brocaded silks likely changed over time, tied to con- Merina textile beadwork and were likely drawn from them (see tinuing innovation and changing fashion trends and patronage. Fig. 10). These include the two motifs which the Manuscript Overall, the western Indian Ocean aesthetic ceded to European mentions by name: vokovoko and poaka. Vokovoko is today the influences as French and British merchants, missionaries, and generic term for a cross or X-shape shape—found on many ako- government agents took up increasing presence in the social, tifahana (see Fig. 8)—but may originally reference the vokovoko commercial, and political life of Antananarivo after 1863. Fringe double throwing blade used in Merina sport and war. The sec- styles can help date Merina weavings (Peers 2004:149, Athenor ond, poaka, literally means “explosion” and likely represents one n.d.:13). Roughly, in the 1870s, the heavy braided and balled of the earliest designs.42 According to elderly Andriandranando fringe gave way to a delicate knotted, tiered mesh, the charac- weavers, “large explosion” (bepoaka) denotes the bisected hexa- teristic fringe of the “Chinese” or “Spanish” shawl then know- gon motif, which, to the untutored eye, appears as a grouping ing a global fashion sensation (see Fig. 9). Together with the of diamonds.43 Several other major historic shapes recognized earliest images and sources, these material clues suggest that the today by these women are shown in Figure 14. Overwhelmingly, early preference for geometric motifs was, over time, joined or the figurative forms are vegetal in nature. Contemporary weav- replaced by the more figurative. Plant forms as well were subject ers associate only two with specific plant species: the tree pibasy to fashion. They grow ever broader and larger, with erect floral (Eriobotrya japonica) and the shrub taimborontsiloza (Chenopo- heads coming to predominate. dium ambrosioides L). Neither occupies a significant role in high- Color too was not static. Magenta, peacock blue, black, pink, land society. Rather, nineteenth century vegetal motifs appear yellow, and brown characterize pieces before 1880, while there- to have been fantastical, inspired by imported objects, includ- after bright green, grape purple, and orange come to the fore. ing porcelains (sora bakoly) according to the Manuscript. The This shift was tied partially to the appearance of aniline dyes, new art of European embroidery proved influential. Contem- invented in the 1850s and widely commercially available from porary weavers use the names “button hole” (lava-bokotra) and the 1870s. Dye analyses of Royal Ontario Museum akotifahana “embroidery” (amboradara or amborodao) to denote two com- reveal that Merina weavers drew from the best of both worlds. mon nineteenth century plant-like motifs (Fig. 13). These terms They continued to use natural sources for black, blue, and yellow bear witness to the popularity of needlework in Imerina, taught shades and to combine natural with anilines for reds, greens, and widely by Europeans from 1815, and a possible source of compe- oranges, ostensibly to create locally desired hues and to guard tition which weavers sought to forestall.44 The vast array of for- against the notoriously fugitive early industrial colors. Weav- eign trims, wallpaper, curtains, and fabrics in wide use by the ers produced the arosy striping pattern into the twentieth cen- court and elite Merina households offered further stimulation. tury, but there was a drift away from the purple, blue, and black Like nineteenth century Merina authors, contemporary weav- striping towards other color combinations, with the name arosy ers refer to all motifs as haingo, “decoration,” and consistently itself largely dropped, replaced by the term kotofahana. Over- deny any esoteric meaning. The “embroidery” motif has given all, striping receded as motifs grew larger. In some instances, the rise to most scholarly speculation, having been variously inter- weaver “broke out of the box” and floated motifs freely across preted as bird, tree of life (Philadelphia Museums 1906), butterfly the centerfield. White-on-white damask akotifahana emerged as (Green 1996), or royal crown (Reynaud 1996:79). Contemporary a new subgenre (Fig. 15). Numerically rare in collections, with

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 36 5/16/13 3:03 AM 17 overview and detail of a bro- caded silk mantle Merina, late 19th century bombyx silk, natural and synthetic dyes, supplementary wefts; 231 cm x 180 cm roM 2010.75.1 PhoTo: WiTh PerMission of The royAl onTArio MuseuM © roM

note the large size of the motifs in relation to stripes, limited motif repertoire and unworked fringe.

Direct European patronage came to fill the void and further shape Merina brocaded silks. As noted in the Wills quote of 1885 cited earlier, they were “a favourite ‘curio’ for foreigners,” who from this time were probably its main consumers. European appreciation of the art form may have induced Merina monarchs from the 1880s to bestow them on foreign dignitaries, part of the crown’s larger strategy to prove its sophistication and member- ship in the “civilized” world and so retain political independence following the island’s defeat in the first Franco-Malagasy war of 1885 (Fee 2002). The aggrandizement and increasing impor- tance of motifs had obvious appeal to Europeans, who generally discounted striping. Weavers further adapted by creating new forms, such as tablecloths and serviettes. Rather than discourage or outright ban akotifahana weaving, French colonial rule from 1896 promoted it through training at the new state-run School of Applied Art (Peers 2004:101). Experimenting with raffia, cot- none firmly dated before the 1880s, they typically sport natural- ton, and wild silk, the School both replicated old designs and istic, Western-inspired motifs, such as oak leaves or peacocks in created new ones, with either folkloric images or the naturalisti- profile or three-quarter view. A very few pieces combine a white cally floral. Exhibited and sold at colonial fairs in 1900 and 1931, body with colored selvedges. Some come in the form of a narrow and from other outlets, a number of these silk brocades entered single panel, probably the “shawl akotifahana” (akotifahana saly) prominent museums in Europe and the United States. mentioned in court gift records (Fig. 16). But it was the local market that ultimately sustained akotifa- Brocaded silks from the final decades of the nineteenth cen- hana weaving into the early twenty-first century. Colored bro- tury show a general trend toward simplified design. Motif variety cades continued to serve as the showy outer wrapping for noble dwindled, in many pieces restricted to the same three forms: the internments, while a new demand emerged for narrow, single- amboradara, bepoaka, and an unnamed plant-like form with loz- panel white damask shoulder cloths for women. No longer con- enges at its center (Fig. 17). Motifs grew substantially in size, from fined to nobility, this shawl was widely embraced by well-to-do some 2 cm in height to over 9 cm. Tightly twisted supplementary Merina women, becoming an essential accessory of formal wear. yarns gave way to silk floss of loose twist, fringes growing short Continuing to adapt to changing tastes, motifs came to depict and in many instances being left unworked. Smaller, two-panel roses, daisies, grapevines, and poinsettias. Andriandranando cloths became common, their larger panel widths suggesting some weavers largely retained their monopoly of weaving brocaded were made on European frame looms. Complex, intricate com- silks into the 1970s when, through state-sponsored workshops, positions, exemplified by the Sims cloth, continued to be made, the technique was diffused to villages north of Antananarivo, to but the general move toward production simplification points to its current-day stronghold around the town of Ambohidrabiby. attempts to cut costs, and to shrinking—or changing—patronage. Indeed, by this time, like all colorful shoulder mantles, the concluSion akotifahana had been widely abandoned as formal dress, par- Perani and Wolf emphasize that “in an art patronage sys- ticularly by men. The Queen’s conversion to Christianity in 1869, tem, producers, consumers and products are linked in dynamic combined with an 1873 edict requiring European dress at court, interactions that continually recreate art traditions in response sowed the seeds for the gradual demise of the shoulder wrap to patron demands” (1999:49). As Africa’s other brocaded tex- amongst urban high society (Mullens 1875:188). tiles, the akotifahana of highlands Madagascar emerged at a time

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 37 5/16/13 3:03 AM of increasing demand for, and supplies, of novel fibers, colors, elite innovative dress fashion. Seeking associations of royalty, and decoration, with supplementary weft floats devised to cre- religion, or rank only masks the dynamic nature of this fluid ate large woven patterning. Here, the major initial influence in and complex art form, aesthetic products shaped by the shifting color and fiber came from the western Indian Ocean, Oman in tastes of patrons and the skills of independent women weavers. particular. Initially subordinate to striping, motifs were inspired by a variety of local and imported sources. As sparse and cryp- Sarah Fee is Curator of Eastern Hemisphere Textiles and Costume at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. With degrees in African stud- tic as the written record may be, it argues that royal patronage ies and Anthropology from Oxford University and the Institut National was indirect and royal gifting only one means by which the cloth des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Paris), she has been conducting circulated. Colored supplementary wefts represent a short-lived research on the handweaving of Madagascar since 1989. [email protected]

Notes 11 Madagascar’s largest collection of nineteenth 24 On the experiments to mass-produce cotton century textiles burned in the 1995 fire that destroyed cloth in Imerina, see Campbell (1991). I wish to express my gratitude to the weavers of the Palace Museum. It contained twelve akotifahana; 25 The French artisan Jean Laborde, who served Betsizaraina, Ambohidrabiby, and Soamanandrariny, eight were of unknown provenance and four were repa- Queen Ranavalona I in the 1830s–40s, introduced new especially Mme Celestine Razanadrasoa; to the Canadian triated gifts from the descendants of British missionary varieties of mulberry bush and silkworms, but other- Conservation Institute, Ottawa; to Bako Rasoarifetra William Wilson who worked in Madagascar from 1877 wise appears to have had little impact. and Mirana Andriamanantena. Karen Middleton, Jan- to 1900 (Athenor n.d.). 26 Wardrobe registers from 1839, 1851, and 1854 for Lodewijk Grootaers, Victoria Rovine, and Silvia Forni 12 Although scholars continue to refer to it as Queen Ranavalona I (r. 1828–61) in the Archives Roy- constructively commented on earlier drafts of this article. the “Manuscript,” the work was in fact published in ales de Madagascar are dominated by imported fabrics, Research was funded by the Département de Recherche, its entirety in Malagasy in two volumes by Jean Giam- listing but a few locally woven cloth types, with nothing Musée du Quai Branly, and the Royal Ontario Museum brone (1970). to indicate brocades. Governor’s Research Fund. 13 In these portraits, it is not always easy to discern 27 The single known firsthand description of King 1 Studies on the history of akotifahana include if the patterning of the more narrow stripes is made in Andrianampoinimerina describes him wearing a red Philadelphia Museums (1906), Picton and Mack (1979), weft or warp floats, but they are probably the latter. Nota- wrapper of unknown origin (Hugon 1808). On rare, Mack (1986, 1989, 1993), Peers (1997, 2002, 2004), bly, the presence or complexity of the brocaded motifs mostly ritual, occasions, Radama was observed to wrap Green (1996), Fee (2011); on contemporary weaving, see does not follow the ambassadorial rank, officer grade himself in a lamba described vaguely as “a simple kasena Domenichini-Andrianina (1988), Athenor (n.d.), and (honors, voninahitra), or class status of the wearer. [a striped wrapper]” (Copalle 1909:31) or “étoffes du pays” Fee (n.d). Rasoamampionona (2000) reprises the work 14 A cloth by the name arosy is first mentioned in (Hastie 1903:98). Radama II occasionally dressed in a of Domenichini-Andrianina. Webber’s dictionary of 1853. tailored European suit made of Borocera cloth. For the 2 Interpreting akotifahana motifs as birds guard- 15 The Merina considered silk “as god in the high- royal bath (fandroana), sovereigns invariably donned the ing “trees of life” originated as armchair speculation in est degree … Andriamanitra indrindra” (Ellis 1838:391). red lamba mena with metallic beads (cf. Hastie 1903:173). the 1906 publication of the Philadelphia Commercial 16 For an alternative reading of the cycles of 28 One observer at the tombs’ opening claimed Museum, whose Malagasy holdings are now mostly Merina commercial weaving, see Larson (2000). the brocaded silks were from the first quarter of the housed at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. 17 Only symbolic amounts of Merina cloth moved nineteenth century but provided no evidence (Carol These pieces were not acquired through ethnographic as tribute to leaders (Mayeur 1913b:158, 164), the vast bulk 1898:226). Andrianampoinimerina’s shrouds were of collecting (Peers 1997:85), but rather were purchased at being “sold to other nations” (Dumaine 1810a:41, 45). “brown silk,” i.e. Borocera. the 1900 Paris exposition. 18 Middlemen on trade routes such as the wealthy 29 Missionaries did observe that in the 1830s some 3 Other Malagasy garments included a long loin- Ancaye also dressed in nothing but cloth from Imerina women were retained by Queen Ranavalona I for tailor- cloth for men and a hip wrapper for women that might (Dumaine 1810b:176). ing and for “spinning and weaving for the queen and her be stitched into a sarong. Tailored tunics appear to have 19 The term acoutis does not appear in the extensive government” (Freeman and Johns 1840:45), but the refer- been adopted later. literature on Indian trade cloths. Akoty is the name of a ence to “spinning” would indicate cotton or Borocera. 4 On the history and complexities of the ethnic village east of Surat, and trade cloth names were often 30 Known recipients include the Princess Rama- term “Merina,” see Larson 2000. associated with the villages or production (Rosemary nana from Majunga who, on October 19, 1880, received 5 Supplementary wefts are discontinuous in the Crill, personal communication). Several authors suggest a “lamba akotofanana and a red umbrella.” On a very case of colored brocades and continuous in the case of supplementary wefts were originally of silver or gold few occasions, it is noted that a “yellow” or “green” white damask. thread (Domenichini-Andrianina 1988, Jourdain 1839:14). akotifahana was given out, presumably referring to the 6 Not appreciating this fact, publications and 20 Dye analyses performed on Merina brocaded dominant striping of the cloth. museum records may depict the cloth the wrong side up. silks in the Royal Ontario Museum show that eventually 31 When akotifahana weaving shifted from Andri- 7 Warp floats may have preceded supplementary weavers succeeded in making colors—save red—from andranando territory to areas north of Antananarivo weft floats in Merina weaving, or the two may have local, natural sources. Testing on ROM akotifahana by in the 1970s, there, too, families who first mastered the always coexisted. Early sources references warp floats the Canadian Conservation Institute of Ottawa shows skills made great profits until the technique spread and (valoharaka) but not weft floats (Johns 1835, Peers that the peacock blue was obtained from indigo, yellow prices dropped. 2004). The Ombiasy Manuscript reveals that the same from turmeric, and the black from tannins, all locally 32 Heidmann’s (1937:102) long passage on Andrian- method—an extra heddle of long leashes which facili- available natural sources. The magenta color appears to dranando silk weaving does not specify if it was Boroc- tate the lifting of warp threads—was used to create both be from safflower, not indigenous to Madagascar; the era or Bombyx. and that cloth could be adorned with one or the other, a Tantara (Callet 1974 IV:709) confirms that in the 1870s 33 Many Andriandranando smiths were bound to fact born out by early visual images and extant objects. Merina weavers were yet using an imported red powder royal guilds, with some brought to Antananarivo and 8 Earlier, Sibree observed, “the patterns are gener- to dye Bombyx. others sent after 1840 to the workshops of the queen’s ally arranged in stripes, with flowers and leaves and 21 Silika, of unknown etymology, was the early private French artisan Jean Laborde, located east of worked in various colours, and with still more elaborate term for imported silk. Over time, sili-mena (“red silk”) Antananarivo. borders” (1870:219). was abbreviated to sily. Memorializing its high value, 34 As other noble clans, the Andrianandranado 9 Sims served in Madagascar from 1884 to 1927. the root sily gave rise to over twenty-one adjectival and were required to offer small numbers of textile at the How and when he acquired the cloth is unknown. verbal forms in Malagasy to denote what one hoards or deaths of royals (Callet 1974 III:737, 1058). Weavers Typically, missionaries received akotifahana from the gives stingily. may have been among the hundred Andrianadranando Merina sovereign at the time they definitively left the 22 Commentary of LMS missionary W.J. Edmonds reportedly brought to Antananarivo under Andri- island—the major means by which they acquired the on Malagasy cloth 1900-5-24-46, an arosy without anampoinimerina, (ibid.:737); in the 1870s, Ranavalona expensive cloth—but Sims presumably received his dur- supplementary wefts, British Museum Archives. II clarified the duties of this group, stating its women ing his early years on the island. 23 British missionary artisans could not have intro- did not have to work metal beads on the cloth, or spin, 10 See, for example, American Museum of Natural duced aniline dyes from the 1830s (Mack 1993:304) as just weave. History 90.2/8601; National Museum of African Art synthetic colors were invented only from the 1850s. 35 Masinadriana, Betsizaraina, Ambohibe, and 2001.2.1; Metropolitan Museum of Art 1999.102.

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African463_26-39_CS6.indd 38 5/16/13 3:03 AM Soamanadrariny were the major weaving villages of the une Approche Technologique. Mémoire de Maîtrise Enslavement: Becoming Merina in Highlands Madagas- Andriandranando. d’ethnologie, Université de Paris X-Nanterre. car, 1770–1822. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 36 To this day, Bombyx weaving by women of slave Dumaine, J.P. 1810a. “Idée de la côte occidental de Lefèvre, Gabriel, Marie-Laurent Randrihasipara, and descent is much critiqued. Madagascar.” Annales des Voyages, de la Géographie, et Velonandro. “Les Fleurs de Tselatra: Symbolique des Fleurs 37 Europeans frequently observed that corvée de l’Histoire 11:20–52. et Condition Humaine Chez un Poète Malgache du début (fanompoana) “represses progress by taking away all du XXe siècle.” Etudes Ocean Indien 40–41:101–38. stimulus to self improvement or to individual enterprise” ______. 1810b. “Voyage fait au pays d’Ancaye dans (Mullens 1875:186). l’île de Madagascar, en 1790.” Annales des Voyages, de la Mack, John. 1993. “Sub-Saharan Africa and the Offshore 38 By 1895, women dressed in akotifahana appeared Géographie, et de l’Histoire 11:146–218. Islands.” In 5,000 Years of Textiles, ed. Jennifer Harris, archaic to European observers (Carol 1898:199). pp. 295–305. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. d’Unienville. 1815. Questions sur Madagascar et 39 Types of Merina “chiefs” included the ambo- reponses d’Unienville. British National Archives MSS ______. 1989. Malagasy Textiles. London: Shire. nizato, “a local leader and term for commander of 18134. 100-strong fanompoana [corvée] labor gang” and ______. 1986. Island of the Ancestors. London: British mpanantatra: “group of headmen charged by the crown Ellis, William. 1838. . 2 vols. Lon- Museum Press. with responsibility for extending santatra [ritual task] to don: Fisher, Sons. Mayeur, Nicolas. 1913a. “Voyage au pays d’Ancove (1785) the provision by freemen of more general public works ______. 1859. Three Visits to Madagascar during the par M. Mayeur.” Bulletin de l’Académie Malgache 12 fanompoana” (Campbell 2005:379, 381). years 1853–1854–1856. London: John Murray. (2):14–49. 40 The bepoaka is probably the “diamond work” mentioned in historic European sources. Fee, Sarah. 2012. “Historic Handweaving in Highland ______. 1913b. “Voyage dans le Sud et dans l’Intérieur 41 “… the weft is placed in such a way to be vis- Madagascar: New Insights from a Vernacular Text des Terres et Particulièrement au Pays d’Hancove, Jan- ible or hidden, depending on the motif, which consists Attributed to a Royal Diviner Healer, c. 1870.” Textile vier 1777. ” Bulletin de l’Académie Malgache 12 (1):139–76. History 43 (1):61–82. in tree leaves, little birds, flowers, fruit” (Comission Mullens, Joseph. 1875. Twelve Months in Madagascar. indigène 1898:378). ______. 2011. “The Political Economy of an Art Form: London: James Nisbit. 42 An 1835 dictionary defined poaka as “name of a The Akotifahana Cloth of Madagascar and Trade Peers, Simon. 2004. “History and Change in the Weav- native silk cloth so called from its pattern” (Johns 1835). 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