Plaited strip patterns on Tonga handbags in Inhambane (Mozambique) ? An update


Paulus Gerdes




The paper presents an update on strip patterns found on twill-plaited handbags and baskets made by Tonga artisans, mostly women. It includes a catalogue of 58 new strip patterns that appear on sipatsi collected between August and December 31, 2002. All seven symmetry classes are represented. Attention is drawn to two particular types of strip patterns characterised by special plaiting structures, that we call single and double.