Wall Art
Aloe 18, a fine art photographic print by David Ballam, stretched canvas, 120cm x 80cm
Wall art doesn't have to mean a framed print — though sometimes it does. Some of the pieces we sell were made for exactly that purpose, like David Ballam's fine art photography. Others were never intended to hang on a wall at all — they were woven for grain, or carried into battle as a flag — and it's their texture and form that makes them work just as well on a wall as anywhere else.
Baskets that were never meant for walls
Our Tonga baskets are a good example. Woven by Tonga (Bathonga) artisans in Zimbabwe and Southern Zambia from Ilala palm leaf, each one starts as a square and is coiled by hand into an almost perfect circle, finished with a fine serpent-scale edging known as "snake's belly". They were traditionally used to winnow grain, and they're sometimes called "grandmother baskets" — fewer younger weavers are learning the craft, so each one carries a bit of a disappearing skill. Hung on a wall, the same coiling and edging that made them useful for sifting grain reads as pure texture and pattern.
We sell our Tonga baskets individually and as curated sets of three, with sizes and tones varying slightly from basket to basket since every one is handmade. A set hung together does the work of a gallery wall in one go, without you having to hunt for pieces that match.
Pattern from Malawi
Our Malawi sun wall basket brings colour into the mix — handmade rattan with a painted blue-lined pattern, sized at around 45cm across. Because each is made by hand, the pattern and exact size vary a little from piece to piece, so the one you receive is genuinely your own. A few of these together, at slightly different sizes, build a gallery wall out of pattern and colour rather than framed pieces.
A flag, framed as a finished artwork
At the other end of the spectrum is our framed Asafo flag from Ghana. Hand-appliquéd by Fante makers, these banners — known as frankaa — were originally carried by the asafo, the traditional warrior companies, to display proverbs, rivalries and allegiances in bold figurative cloth. We've had ours float-mounted and framed to a high conservation standard, protecting the textile while letting its hand-cut layers and stitching read clearly. It turns a collector's object into an immediate, hang-it-today statement piece — a genuine investment artwork with real cultural depth, rather than just a textile on a wall.
Putting a wall together
- Group your baskets. A cluster of Tonga or Malawi baskets at slightly different sizes reads as considered, not random — start with the largest and build outward.
- Let one statement piece anchor it. A framed flag or a large fine art print works best with a bit of breathing room rather than crowded in among smaller pieces.
- Mix the material, not just the shape. Woven palm, painted rattan, appliquéd cloth and stretched canvas all catch light differently — that contrast is what makes a wall feel layered rather than flat.
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
