BLK 007 Ịkakị Akwete Igbo Fabric

Ịkakị is an Akwete cloth, which bears the emblem of a tortoise, which to the Niger Delta and Igbo people is a very wise and cunning creature, and therefore was associated with chieftaincy. It was usually used during coronation and royal funerals to depicts peace and royalty. Ịkakị pattern is the most frequently woven Akwete design.

There are three major patterns of Ịkakị;
1. The original Akwete type
2. The type patterned according to the Ijebu Ode cloth
3. The type with a solid-colored background dotted by an overall repeated image of a flower, flag, bird or clusters of animals, known in the Niger Delta as the blangidi or plangidi – a bastardization of ‘blanket,’ which indicates its English origin.

The one imported trade cloth which seemed to most inspire Akwete weavers was the Ikaki also known as Ikakibite or tortoise originally traded to the Ijo from the Ijebu Yoruba area. Already appearing in the Akwete weaver’s repertoire by the late nineteenth century, this design continues to be the most popular one Akwete women weave. It is interesting to note that they use the Ijo name ikaki rather than the Igbo word for tortoise, mbe, to refer to the design. This suggests that they learnt of this pattern and its name from their Ijo patrons who they know to use it in a variety of events. The popularity of the ikaki design among Ijo patrons can be measured by the frequency with which Akwete women now weave the tortoise pattern. At times every woman in a compound will be weaving ikaki. When commissioned by the Ijo, Akwete weavers will weave ikaki in three sections (ikaki mkepele) sewn together to parallel strongly the stylistic and structural aspects of the
Ijebu-traded cloth. To this day, Ijo patrons continue to commission Akwete weavers to produce ikakibite.

Read more about Akwete fabrics here