Mae brethyn adire yn cael ei gynhyrchu gan ddefnyddio ystod o dechnegau i gynhyrchu’r cyferbyniad unigryw rhwng lliw’r lliwiad indigo a’r patrwm gwrthsefyll. Gelwir yr enghreifftiau a ddangosir yma yn adire eleko, lle mae pâst startsh, a wneir yn draddodiadol o flawd cassava, yn cael ei roi ar ffabrig cotwm plaen, a’i ganiatáu i sychu. Mae’r pâst startsh yn gweithredu fel rhwystr pan fydd y ffabrig yn cael ei drochi yn ddiweddarach mewn lliwiad indigo, gan atal y lliw rhag treiddio’r ffabrig ac arwain at y patrymau cyferbyniol.
Daw’r tecstilau hyn o gasgliad Gwenllian Ashley. Wedi ei geni yn Llangeitho ac wedi ei magu yng Nghapel Bangor a Dole, roedd Gwenllian, a fu farw yn 2019, yn guradur cynorthwyol Amgueddfa Ceredigion ers blynyddoedd lle roedd yn adnabyddus am guradu arddangosfeydd o decstiliau Cymreig, yn enwedig cwiltiau. Adeiladodd hefyd gasgliad personol mawr o decstilau Affricanaidd, gan gaffael llawer ohonynt yn y 1970au pan oedd yn byw ac yn gweithio yn Uganda a Nigeria. Mae’r ffabrigau a arddangosir yma yn dod o Nigeria ac yn enghreifftiau o dechneg gwrthsefyll-liwio indigo a elwir yn adire yn Yoruba.
(Gwybodaeth ychwanegol gan J. Picton a J.Mack (1989) ‘African Textiles’. British Museum Press)
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These textiles are from the collection of Gwenllian Ashley. Born in Llangeitho and raised in Capel Bangor and Dole, Gwenllian, who died in 2019, was for many years the assistant curator of Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum where she was well known for curating exhibitions of Welsh textiles, especially quilts. She also built up a large personal collection of African textiles, many acquired in the 1970s when she was living and working in Uganda and Nigeria. The fabrics exhibited here are from Nigeria and are examples of indigo resist-dye technique known in Yoruba as adire.
Adire cloth is produced using a range of techniques to produce the distinctive contrast between the colour of the indigo dye and resist pattern. The examples displayed here are known as adire eleko, in which starch paste, traditionally made from cassava flour, is applied to plain cotton fabric, and allowed to dry. The starchy paste acts as a barrier when the fabric is later immersed in indigo dye, stopping the colour from penetrating the fabric and resulting in the contrasting patterns.
The starch pattern can be applied by hand using feathers or a palm leaf, or stencilled. As seen in the examples here, the design is usually divided into squares and rectangles of repeating patterns, often geometric, but also figurative with motifs as diverse as chickens, cutlery and words. The centre adire cloth is a distinctive and popular design known as Oloba and shows a depiction of King George and Queen
Mary in the centre, probably mimicking the imagery of the 1935 coronation souvenirs. Alongside them, images of the prophet Muhamed on his horse as well as Adam and Eve and lions and elephants.
(Additional information from J. Picton & J.Mack (1989) ‘African Textiles’. British Museum Press)