While Ethiopia has a rich history in superb handwoven and embroidered cotton and we will feature these in future, we have chosen to focus on the unique Kuba cloths from the Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire. These fabrics are made entirely of rafia grass.   A number of our clients have chosen to use them as table throw-overs, or have stitched them on an  stretched painting canvas to use as wallhangings.

Our collection is from the late 1960s and 1970s.

Kuba cloths from the Kuba peoples of the Congo  

These genuine and highly prized cloths are made from cut pile raffia and were used for dance skirts, prestige and currency.

The embroidered and appliqué decorated raffia cloths of the Kuba peoples of the Kasai river region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) are the best known survivors of an ancient African tradition of fine quality raffia cloth weaving that was once widespread across the whole of Central Africa.

The basic unit of Kuba weaving is the plain square of undecorated raffia cloth, the mbal, woven by men on a type of upright single-heddle loom. The most laborious and prestigious type of cloth decoration, cut-pile embroidery is only produced by women. The raffia thread is prepared using local plant dyes which produce shades of red, brown, black, and yellow. A needle is used to insert a strand of raffia into the plain square of cloth in such a way that it goes under a crossover between a single warp and weft thread, then is drawn up again until the end of the strand on the cloth surface is only one or two millimetres long. The pattern is not evedent on the reverse of the mbal.  Using a small very sharp knife the strand is cut equally close to the cloth leaving two very short tufts. There is no knot, it is simply the tightness of the weave that holds the stitch in place. The process is repeated again and again until a linear block of the same colour has been completed. By rubbing over the tufts with the edge of a knife the ends are split and fluffed out so that the ground cloth is completely concealed by the pile. It is said to take about a month of regular work for a woman to complete a small square of embroidery using this technique. Except with novices, the design to be embroidered is worked out as she proceeds, usually elaborating a new combination of familiar existing designs, without any overall plan being laid out on the cloth in advance.

The designs used by women expert in the embroidery of cut-pile cloth are drawn from a huge repertoire of known patterns, at least two hundred of which have been identified by name.

Learn more about our fabrics