Kuba Cloth Pillows

I will be out of town from May 5th to 14th, and so will not be shipping orders or open for visitors at the gallery. The Indigo Arts website will be active as always. I will respond to emails as soon as possible. I will be able to ship orders after May 15th, 2025.

Note:
With the high cost of shipping many of our customers choose to ship by USPS. For small and light shipments this is usually less expensive, but please be aware that their estimates are often wrong and their service can be very slow (sixteen days for Priority Mail from Philadelphia to New York City recently). The service is not always as economical as it may appear, particularly on larger or more valuable shipments. USPS estimates only include insurance up to $100 for its domestic shipments. If you ask for full insurance we will recalculate the shipping cost and send you an invoice for any difference in cost. For overseas shipments USPS will not insure for over $650. On request we can get estimates for overseas shipping from DHL.

Our one-of-a-kind Kuba pillows use the bold geometries and rich textures of vintage hand-woven raffia cloth from the Kuba people of the Congo. Several kinds of raffia cloth are employed in these unique pillows. Flat-weave cloth is woven of fibers from the raffia-palm leaves. Left in its natural color or dyed with organic red, brown and ochre dyes, it is sewn into applique and reverse-applique, traditionally used in long wrap-around dancing skirts. The flat-weave fabric may also be tie-dyed, embroidered or decorated with cowry shells. But certainly the most lavish technique is the "Shoowa velvet", small panels of flat-weave fabric which are over-woven with a raffia fiber pile cut in a manner similar to an oriental pile rug. Geometric patterns are formed by outlining areas of pile of different colors with flat-weave emroidery. The finest Shoowa velvet panels are prized by textile collectors the world over.
Pillows are backed with linen fabric in natural tones which complement the Kuba textiles. Every pillow is unique, and the exact dimensions will vary, as do the original textiles used, but whenever possible we try to make pairs of pillows of similar size, pattern and color.

Two of our Kuba pillows were featured in Sharne Algotsson's book, African Style: Down to the Details (page 18, 73, 157, 161).

Last Updated:

June 21, 2018