cover (food service)

Roughly square cover made of different textiles pieced together and decorated with embroidery, mirrors and a cowrie shell edging. The upper surface of the cover has a central square of red and yellow geometric printed pattern textile. The borders are cream fabric and coloured, loose weave fabrics that have a range of embroidery stitches in coloured threads, as well as small, circular mirrors stitched into place. The cover has a decorative edge made up of individual cowrie shells sewn to the fabric on the narrower end. At each corner are three clusters of cowrie shells with coloured threads forming the central column and a ball at the ends.

A cover used when carrying a water pot.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections, can suggest corrections to our information or if you see content requiring immediate action, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk