Early Modern Raffia Textiles from West Central Africa

Velvet-like raffia textiles from West Central Africa were praised by early modern European commentators for their technical sophistication. In 1489, “many well woven palm cloths of fine colours” were among the first diplomatic gifts which the Manikongo Nzinga a Nkuwu, later João I of Kongo, sent to King João II of Portugal.1 By 1505, the Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira stated that “in the kingdom of the Congo they produce cloths from palm fibers with a velvet-like pile of such beauty that better ones are not made in Italy” (Bassani 2000: xxxii, 182, 279). He was amazed to find artifacts of a similar quality to Italian silks, which were among the most expensive textiles in Europe, in such a distant region. Cut and uncut piles of Italian velvets required complex draw looms for production. West African vertical looms were simpler but created similar results.The curiosity about raffia cloths also echoed in the Kunstkammer. Adam Olearius (1599–1671), keeper of the Gottorp Kunstkammer, specified that the look and touch of his Angolan fabrics led him to similar associations when describing “artfully woven clothes made from bast, cushions, and tapestries, which if seen from afar, also feel so soft, as if it was silk and velvet” (Olearius 1666: 3).2 In the catalogue of the Milanese collection of Manfredo Settala from 1664, Paolo Maria Terzago likewise compared Kongolese palm fiber cloths with silk textiles: “They are like the white silk cloth, as one can see in the museum. [...] One is amazed to find among barbarous peoples so great an art which surpasses our puckered silk cloths” (Terzago 1664: 131; trans. Bassani 2000: 152–53).3 The comments demonstrate that early modern European commentators had a material literacy for West Central African cloths which they described within their frames of reference.This research note brings together primary and secondary literature on Kongo textiles in European collections and expands this knowledge through close readings of inventories and technical examinations of extant artifacts. From the major weaving centers in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Kongo and the Kingdom of Loango in the north, these fabrics were predominantly traded within the region, more specifically to western Kongo and Portuguese Angola (Vansina 1998: 264, 274–77). By the seventeenth century, a sizeable amount of raffia cloth was produced. John Thornton (1990: 12–13) estimated that in 1611 the Portuguese in Luanda imported 100,000 meters of cloth yearly from eastern Kongo. This amount equaled the yearly output of Leiden, a contemporary center for European textile production. Regarding the textile techniques, Angelika Stritzl (1971) argued that the velvety patterns of sixteenth-to eighteenth-century Kongo cloths were produced with a similar technique to later “cut-pile” embroideries from the Kuba kingdom further inland.4 The latter were collected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and consisted of plain-woven cloths which were subsequently embroidered. Despite similarities in style and materiality, closer analysis of earlier Kongo luxury cloths revealed that their geometrical motifs were produced through a specialized weaving technique, which disappeared during the eighteenth century. The designs of earlier Kongo textiles were created through supplementary weft threads, which formed loops and were cut open after weaving (Bassani 2000: 278; Coote 2015: 66–68; LaGamma 2015: 135). These fabrics can be described as a type of velvet: a woven fabric where a pile is created through additional yarns in the warp or the weft. In the case of early modern raffia textiles from the Kongo region, the foundation is a plain-weave structure. Thicker supplementary weft bundles either float on the surface, creating subtle patterns, or form loops, which are then cut (Giuntini and Brown 2015; CIETA 2025). While this technique was common for Kongo luxury cloths, evidence from extant artifacts and early modern commentators suggests a greater variety of production methods corresponding with different functions of cloths. In their well-known account of the Kingdom of Kongo, first published in 1591, Duarte Lopes and Filippo Pigafetta described five types of cloth made from palm leaves:Considering this hint toward the plethora of Kongo textiles, this research note broadens our understanding of the technical varieties and uses of raffia cloth in early modern West Central Africa. It expands the established canon of collected fabrics by including nonsurviving artifacts in inventories and previously mislabelled textiles. The focus on construction techniques refines the stylistic and material historiographies of raffia textiles from West Central Africa produced between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The first section gives an overview of extant textiles in European cabinets of curiosities. Second, I discuss the process of making raffia textiles as it was known to contemporary Europeans. Thirdly, I analyze raffia textiles ordered by production techniques, sizes, and shapes. Therein, I distinguish four types of Kongo cloths: First are large, fringed cloths sewn together from individual “leaves” of textiles. Their knotlike motifs in rows are produced through additional weft threads creating cut-pile velvet. They served as luxurious decorative textiles. Second are cushions, another type of finished piece produced from one to four pieces of supplementary weft fabrics. Radiocarbon dating of a pillow from the Pitt Rivers Museum challenges the assumption that cushion shapes were adaptations to European tastes. With the cushions we find greater design variability than previously described. Third are unfinished, individual pieces of fabric. They reveal a plethora of production techniques, ranging from supplementary wefts with cut or uncut pile loops to inwoven designs comparable to damasks or brocades, as well as embroideries. The latter likely represent the earliest examples of such a technique, comparable to later Kuba textiles. Fourth are plain, tabby-woven fabrics. Without a motif, some of them have hitherto been mislabelled and less studied than patterned cloths.The most comprehensive account of African textiles was provided by Ezio Bassani in his survey, African Art and Artifacts in European Collections, 1400–1800 (2000). By discussing European reports on Kongo textiles and surveying textiles in collections, he established a canon of early African cloths. Cabinets of curiosities covered by Bassani ranged from princely Kunstkammer collections in Copenhagen and Stuttgart, to private cabinets held by Christoph Weickmann (1617–1681) in Ulm and the Tradescants in London, to academic museum collections such as the one by Athanasius Kircher (16021680) at the Jesuit college in Rome. Today, their contents are held in museums in Germany, Italy, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Bohemia. Among the extant African artifacts, Bassani listed sixty-three textiles, three garments, nine caps, and thirteen bags. He estimated they were produced roughly between 1600 and 1800. From these, he identified forty-three textiles and three caps as being made from raffia palm-fibers in the Kingdoms of Kongo and Loango.6 Thus, Kongolese cloths were the most coveted African textile products in European cabinets of curiosities.In 2015, the exhibition Kongo: Power and Majesty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York brought together an extensive number of fabrics and caps from different museums. Alisa LaGamma's survey of Kongo cloth added two cushion covers from the Swedish royal collections in Stockholm to Bassani's canon.7 Another bast fiber mat, whose provenance was recently attributed to West Central Africa, comes from the Kunstkammer of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (1529–1595), at Ambras Castle. The inventory of 1596 described it as an “Indian straw blanket” (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien 1888: cccvii).8 It was later identified as East African (Seipel 2000: 140) and more recently described as coming from the Kongo Kingdom (Haag, Eichberger, and Jordan Gschwend 2018: 144–45). Table 1 gives an overview of these fabrics.9Fibers for Kongolese textiles were predominantly harvested from raffia palms. Out of seven kinds of raffia trees that could provide fibers, West Central Africans usually made threads from Raphia textilis Welw. or Raphia Gentilii de Wild. since their fibers were longer than others (Vansina 1998: 265). Pineapple fibers were sometimes used to create prestigious mpu caps in fine needlework (Bassani 2000: 279; Fromont 2014: 125). Through laboratory testing, other fibers may be identified.10 European travellers vividly described how threads were produced from palm trees. The Italian Capuchin missionary Antonio Cavazzi (1694: 39–43) stated that out of eight palm trees, two were used for thread production. Others provided oil, wine, and vinegar, as well as materials for housing and basketry. Harvesters climbed up the trees to cut the leaves. Then the leaflets were separated from the midrib, and the outer skins of the leaflets were removed. After drying the fibers in the sun, the strands were divided by hand and combed to create finer threads (Giuntini and Brown 2015). Lopes and Pigafetta reported that raffia treesThis attests to the planned cultivation of the trees.The weaving process of luxury cloths fascinated European commentators. The Italian Capuchin friar Antonio Zucchelli (1663–1716) reported on the weaving with supplementary weft threads:The “pins” described here were likely used to hold the loops in position during weaving (Giuntini and Brown 2015). Professional male weavers created luxury cloths on vertical single-heddle looms. Women and boys were likely responsible for picking the leaves, preparing the fibers, and finishing the fabrics. Raffia threads were never spun and hardly exceeded one meter in length. The fiber length determined the size of the finished cloth. In plain weave, a square piece measured less than 1m by 1m. Sizes for more complex weaves ranged from 40 cm square to 67 cm square (Vansina 1998: 267–68, 275). Larger textiles were sewn together from multiple pieces, or “leaves,” as seen in collected samples discussed below.Some of the most sophisticatedly woven extant raffia fabrics from the early modern Kongo region are three large, fringed cloths with cut-pile patterns. Today, they are held in collections in Stuttgart, Ulm, and Copenhagen. All three artifacts consist of individual square cloths or “leaves,” which were sewn together and subsequently adorned with continuous fringes. Comparable in design, they differ mainly in size, determined by the number of individual pieces they are made from. The textile from the Stuttgart Kunstkammer (Fig. 1) consists of nine pieces of cloth. It was first recorded in 1669 as “Indian carpet made of silk threads” (Bassani 2000: 124). Another item from the collection of Christoph Weickmann in Ulm (Fig. 2) was first described in 1659 as “A very artistic tablecloth made in Angola [...] of palm tree bast in its own colour” (Bassani 2000: 127). It is produced from twelve individual fabrics. The largest textile, made from fifteen cloths (175 cm × 290 cm), was inventoried in the Royal Danish Kunstkammer by 1674 as “tablecloth of bast” (Bassani 2000: 14).13 All three artifacts have geometric motifs set in squares that float freely in rows. Within the rectangles, each fabric has two alternating designs of lozenges and diamonds. The squares vary in size, which shows that, unlike for European or Ottoman velvets, weavers did not follow meticulously prescribed designs, but produced the textiles from experience. In the examples from Copenhagen and Ulm, the designs in the squares vary between the individual “leaves” of which they are composed. In both artifacts, the background is filled with zigzag lines in cut-piles. In the piece from Stuttgart, the background has a more subtle design of uncut wefts in lozenge patterns. The singularity of each cloth indicates that they were made by different artists or workshops.With their exquisite designs and mixtures of cut and uncut piles, these artifacts represent the highest quality of early Kongo textiles as described by Zucchelli. Though European travellers reported that raffia fabrics were worn in West Central Africa as wrapped clothing, these particular objects exemplify decorative textiles. Olfert Dapper (1670: 512, 523–26) stated that garments in the Kingdom of Loango were made from six pieces of cloth. According to him, bigger pieces served as wall hangings and floor coverings. Carpets and mats had a special significance in designating the space for rulers and aristocrats during ceremonies. A similarly large piece that is lost today might have been kept in the Kunstkammer of Emperor Rudolf II at Prague Castle. Daniel Fröschl's inventory from 1607–1611 listed a “yellow Indian woven cloth from bast or bark” with a length of 4.5 ells, roughly 3.5 meters (Bauer and The Kunstkammer also held textiles that likely from the Kongo region. inventory pieces of fringed as well as Indian with in and from In he listed raffia textiles that he described as or Their were different from the textiles. fringed cloths were among the most exquisite decorative textiles used in the Kongo region and coveted by European of extant raffia textiles from cabinets of curiosities are cushions with Today, they are kept in and the textiles were first recorded in inventories between and Bassani and LaGamma estimated that they were produced between the early seventeenth and early eighteenth Radiocarbon dating of cushion from the Pitt Rivers Museum in (Fig. challenges earlier revealed that its fibers were harvested between Coote the to the early fifteenth century. In the United Kingdom, the textile has a collection that the from the which was formed by John the and John the in the latter the collection to it to the of it was the In the textile was to the Pitt Rivers 2015: and Coote that the inventory of “A of very in the catalogue of the most likely to the at the of the the catalogue of an “Indian could also the fabric While other cushions are the lozenge of this was with an after weaving 2015: size cm × suggests the pillow was made from one cloth in Coote argued that the and that it was made from two textiles. A material that the cushion is on one with The other has two in that it was made from a cloth. The form of the with its dating to the early fifteenth the assumption that the was an to European by silk cushions with the textile may have been produced the of the Portuguese and later a cushions were sewn together from two or more pieces in were then added on the four and sometimes the The cushions have an on the for a artifacts kept at in have similar motifs as the pieces from Copenhagen and The individual knotlike designs in square in rows a zigzag background exemplify one of two types 2018: LaGamma 2015: the textiles were first in they to the collections of the Museum of the in the late seventeenth and are (Bassani 2000: The design type described in secondary literature are of or 2018: LaGamma 2015: A lozenge with is on one of a cushion held at the in Stockholm The other a design of the two patterns. The a individual motifs with Another cushion from the Swedish Royal Collections, first in has pile (Fig. Their form a less The background has uncut weft in lozenge and geometric motifs were common for Kongo textiles as well as and In and woven designs to the century. With their the patterns the techniques of weaving and 2018: Fromont 2014: were of Kongo a with a lozenge the of the on the and By they for the four and the four of and 2018: the of the Portuguese and the shapes were for a 2014: to a of contemporary it is to the of individual motifs Coote 2015: Fromont 2014: cushions in different The textiles from and like the luxury cloths, have fine threads and are Through their weaving techniques and they can be to the of the seventeenth or Another set of four cushions comes from the Museum of Athanasius Kircher in and was first in catalogue in One textile from the is less with yarns than It consists of three textile The of with vertical in a designs of the cloths but not the sophistication. The fabric has more where the plain is It has four and the This less complex technique might a of production the latter could have been produced for a to extant raffia cushions, were more in European to palm fiber textiles, Antonio Zucchelli stated in that our can have such they have tapestries, cushions and the like made from and when they to Italy, they them with them as a special a from had “A cushion of bast with fine in in his collection (Bassani 2000: The Milanese Manfredo Settala at two Kongo cushions, which are in (Fig. and After a Kongo cushion in King of such an for his the large number of extant artifacts and Kongo cushions the most collected type of Kongo cloth. The and designs made them for European and produced from one to three of cloth have been and more than large from finished textiles made from multiple pieces, museums hold raffia fabrics from Central West Africa produced with different The textiles I have been to so three types of supplementary wefts with uncut pile loops, fabrics with woven designs damasks or brocades, and catalogue of the collection Manfredo Settala a piece of cloth made in the technique of (Fig. This was used for contemporary Italian silk velvets with cut and uncut the of zigzag and squares filled with is formed by supplementary weft the outer lines of the have cut raffia fabrics to the the in in also have patterns of uncut loops They from the collection of the or other early collections by the of and Bassani that the textiles were embroidered. a close shows a weaving The loops of the textiles are with additional weft The motifs are squares filled with or zigzag in some uncut loops might a a (Giuntini and Brown the examples from and represent a All three fabrics have a plain additional weft threads not float on the surface, creating subtle Thus, the loops not have produced the quality as the previously in fabric quality the of the or describing the Kingdom of Olfert Dapper stated that the largest and most textiles, were for the and his He reported have been worn by with uncut pile loops and simpler might exemplify such secondary quality raffia type of is described in catalogue of the Settala collection as or While Bassani that it might be the a woven design find a on a weave, formed through continuous weft threads of a first the technique damasks by Lopes and like this reveal the varieties of Kongo woven cloths in early modern reports but less discussed in secondary are textiles with a technique after the weaving of a examples were from the in to the in While Bassani could not find an inventory for a close look at catalogue of similar textiles. In a of textiles made from palm leaves, tree or listed a textile from of palm and in such a that it like a of square and another in with white palm the of Despite of these to an raffia cloth with geometric designs in three and a (Fig. The for the fibers from or in and (Giuntini and Brown 2015). While in examples the piles were created through threads woven in the of the these fiber bundles were after The piles are held more making the cloth more Through the catalogue we can the textiles at to the early eighteenth century. Thus, they likely represent the examples for an technique in the Kingdom of Kongo, comparable to nineteenth Kuba embroideries a of Kongo cloth production and about the of textile The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a for European and cloths among and used to plain raffia textiles. This was for western Kongo where raffia fabrics were not the Kongo the for luxury cloth (Vansina 1998: The was a production of raffia textiles. the eighteenth century, the weaving of luxury supplementary fabrics to an in the of the Kingdom of Kongo. In the eastern and Kongo, the production of plain-woven textiles 2015: 1998: the the production of raffia pile textiles the Kuba that the making of raffia pile textiles from the and the to the Kuba by the seventeenth or at the eighteenth century. The from this for luxurious supplementary weft cloths it have been to the production by making similarities to a with nineteenth Kuba textiles and the of production centers for raffia textiles further to the to patterned plain, tabby-woven raffia cloths. of them have hitherto been to other Paolo Maria catalogue of the Settala collection (Terzago 1664: 131; trans. Bassani 2000: (Fig. In the exhibition The from at the in the was identified as coming from the Kingdom of Kongo. In Christoph first “A from Indian straw very woven (Fig. provenance has previously been to or similarities in thread and making also to an in West Central raffia cloths served Olfert Dapper (1670: reported that in two types of plain cloth by the of the Antonio Zucchelli that plain fabrics were used as He described these as cloth woven from palm leaves, roughly the size of a such fabrics for their own According to Lopes and Portuguese have to them as and since they hold and and Pigafetta The Christoph Weickmann might have been of this In his catalogue from he added that his Indian carpet was and close that it also A of the piece which might of the overview of West Central African textile techniques through raffia cloths collected in early modern cabinets of curiosities a bigger variety of production techniques and functions than previously described in secondary of early modern and inventories shows that European commentators material literacy for these making Lopes and Pigafetta fabrics produced between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries velvets with cut and uncut piles, brocades, or plain-woven by the early eighteenth likely a and of production. European reports on a plethora of functions of Kongo cloths. cut-pile velvets served as decorative fabrics and for and quality with uncut and cut loops were used by in plain woven fabrics. raffia cloths also served as and were by European as and of forty-three extant fabrics from the Kingdom of Kongo can be through a closer look at European collections and textiles and artifacts which have been lost can be added to the Out of the African textiles collected in European cabinets of raffia fabrics from the Kongo region form the largest technical analysis could our understanding of their and Radiocarbon dating of more textiles our knowledge about their this analysis of production techniques, and

Textile · Variety (cybernetics) · African Studies and Geopolitics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories

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