Asante double-heddle narrow strip loom weavers in the royal weavers village of Bonwire near the Asante capital of Kumasi. June 1997.

photo (c) Duncan Clarke

Weaving, at its simplest, involves the regular interlacing of two sets of threads to create a textile. A loom is basically any kind of frame that facilitates this interlacing process. One set of threads (known as the warp) is fixed to the frame, while the second set (the weft) is manipulated in between one or more warps in an under/over fashion. Almost all looms have some means of separating alternate warps to speed up this interlacing process. Generally this involves string loops placed round every other warp, allowing the two groups to be pulled apart, creating a gap (called the shed) through which the weft is passed. This set of string loops is called a heddle. Looms where only one set of alternate warps are leashed to a heddle are called single-heddle looms. Looms where both sets are leashed to separate heddles are called double-heddle looms. In an influential book John Picton and John Mack have argued that the clearest method of classifying the many different types of loom found in Africa is to focus on this fundamental distinction in the weaving process itself, rather than looking at essentially peripheral features such as the position of the frame, the width of the cloth woven, or the gender of the weaver.

A tripod loom in use, Mende or Vai people, Sierra Leone.

photo (c) Duncan Clarke

A woman in the Yoruba city of Owo, weaving on her upright single-heddle loom, in front an apprentice practices on a smaller cloth.

photo (c) Duncan Clarke

One of many single-heddle loom variations formerly used in Central African raffia weaving. Congo-Brazzaville.

photo (c) Duncan Clarke

Ground loom: the loom shown in this picture from Bangante, Cameroon is actually much smaller than most but it is a convenient depiction of the principles involved. Taken from African Majesty by FC Egerton (1938)