African Market Women with Chickens — Original Batik on Paper

Vivid, close-up, and bursting with the energy of market day — this original batik on paper is a bold landscape-format scene of two African market women facing each other across a shared space, each cradling large live chickens in their arms, set against a dramatic backdrop of two traditional thatched huts with bold brick-pattern walls, rendered in deep black with intricate hand-drawn pattern details against a shimmering hand-dyed background of pink, magenta, purple, and blue. The two women dominate the foreground in a near-symmetrical composition — the figure on the left wears a bold concentric spiral pattern garment in deep black, her face in profile turned toward the centre with a composed expression, her arms wrapped around two large dark chickens with bold feather-texture marks; the figure on the right wears a bold vertical woodgrain-stripe pattern garment, her face also in profile turned inward, her arms cradling two more large dark chickens. Between them at the centre, a small pointed form — a hat, basket, or vessel — sits on the ground. Behind the two women, two traditional huts with bold diagonal-line thatched roofs and bold brick-pattern walls in deep black fill the upper composition, their forms framing the women like stage wings. The background is a glorious hand-dyed field of crackled batik texture in warm pink, magenta, purple, and blue — the characteristic crackle lines of the wax-resist process creating a rich, vibrant surface. Presented in a classic black frame with white mount. A joyful, characterful celebration of African market life and trade.

Details

• Original one-of-a-kind artwork — not a print or reproduction
• Batik on paper — traditional wax-resist hand-dyeing technique
• Subject: two African market women facing each other with chickens before village huts
• Vibrant palette — pink, magenta, purple, blue & deep black
• Classic batik crackle texture throughout the background
• Presented in black frame with white mount (included)
• Ready to hang — perfect as a gift or collector's piece

Dimensions

• Framed: 20 inches (height) × 22 inches (width)
• Unframed: 12 inches (height) × 16 inches (width)