Textiles & Rugs

A strip of raffia in the Congo, a flag in Ghana, a quilt in Sindh: the loom speaks many accents. Antique textiles and rugs come from across the weaving world: Kuba raffia cloth and Shoowa prestige panels from the Congo, Mbuti barkcloth from the Ituri forest, Fante asafo flags and Asante kente from Ghana, Tulu sleeping rugs from Karapinar in Anatolia, Beni Ourain pile carpets from the Moroccan Atlas, Bakhtiari and Kurdish weavings, suzani and silk ikat from Uzbekistan. From Asia come Japanese fukuro and maru obi, Miao and Ge Jia baby carriers from Guizhou, Tibetan tiger and dragon carpets, Sumba hinggi and Batak ritual cloths from Indonesia, and ralli quilts from Sindh. Aymara and Quechua mantles carry the weaving of the Andes, and painted tapa skirts come from Papua New Guinea.

Hand-softened raffia, sun-faded indigo, strip-woven cotton, gold-threaded silk, long Anatolian wool: the materials are the story. Kente on a library wall, a Tulu on travertine.