It took four experienced artisans several months to accomplish this embroidery. The vessels and basketry are artifacts from the palace of the King (mwami) in Nyanza. Dried calabash gourds (inkongoro) were used to keep buttermilk; a decorative mortar and pestle was for grinding flour; agaseke baskets stored valuables. The long panels on either side are delicately woven screens that served as room dividers and for decoration. Today such accoutrements would be found in only the homes of the highest echelons of Rwandan society or in museums like Rwanda’s Ancient History Museum in Nyanza.
