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Luxury Cloth

16th–17th century, inventoried 1666
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Following Denmark’s defeat of the Duchy of Gottorp in 1742, its ducal collection was decreed Danish royal property to be absorbed into Copenhagen’s Kunstkammer in 1751. At the core of the Gottorp holdings was the collection of the Dutch physician Berhard Paludanas. Catalogued in 1666 by the mathematician Adam Oleanius, this unfinished panel provides a glimpse into the creative process of the Kongo weaver. Unwoven weft fibers at either side likely remain as they would have appeared when cut from the loom. These were added individually into each shed. Along one of the adjacent sides, finely combed fibers are bundled into groups and knotted, indicating they are warps that were lashed to an adjustable rod held near one of the loom bars. The weft patterning is created by a second set of wefts that is supplementary to, and added over, the plain weave foundation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Luxury Cloth
  • Date: 16th–17th century, inventoried 1666
  • Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Angola
  • Culture: Kongo peoples; Kongo Kingdom
  • Medium: Raffia
  • Dimensions: 19 3/4 in. (50cm) x 22 1/2 in. (57 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Woven
  • Credit Line: Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing