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A Labor of Love

April 9, 2025

By Louise Irvine

During the African summer, the adventurous male weaver bird tirelessly constructs elaborate grass nests with precision and passion. He hopes to tempt a female to choose a suitable home to raise their future family. The Ardmore Design Studio has been inspired by this labor of love to create the Thanda Nests collection of home furnishings. Thanda means love in the Zulu language, and the collection celebrates love and the closeness of family and friends in African style.

The branches of the Acacia karroo thorn tree, also known as the Sweet Thorn, bend under the weight of weaver nests every summer. The birds are lured to the tree because its fragrant puffball flowers attract butterflies and other insects. These can be seen in Ardmore’s new Thanda Nests tablecloths and table runners, alongside the sickle-shaped seed pods of the abundant tree.

There are many species of weaver birds in South Africa, and the finch-like birds specialize in forming roofed nests with complex, hanging, woven chambers. The new Thanda Nests design features a nest in construction, and another filled with eggs waiting to hatch. The tablecloths and table runners are made of 100% cotton in two sizes and feature new colorways of Parakeet and Mist. The napkins provide the perfect accents to the Thanda Nests table settings in three colors, Magnolia, Midnight and Coral.

The industrious weaver bird also stars on the Thanda Nests Solaris collection of durable polyester outdoor pillows, which are sold in Midnight, Delta, and Plum at the Ardmore Design Shop at WMODA. Fabrics by the yard in linen, velvet and outdoor material are also available to order through the museum for making drapes or upholstering furniture.

For their 40th anniversary exhibition, Taking Flight, held in Cape Town in March, Ardmore sculptor Thulani Mntungwa and painter Mthulisi Ncube created a spectacular pair of Masked Weaver Bird urns. They honor the values of weaver birds as a metaphor for the Ardmore community, which has thrived through creativity, hard work, and perseverance.  The nests, protected by thorny acacia trees, symbolize abundance and nourishment, much like the support Ardmore provides its artists, fostering a creative environment where talent can flourish.

 

The Thanda Nests design represents sanctuary and nourishment, and your purchases from the Ardmore Design Shop at WMODA help sustain Ardmore’s creative community and the educational programs at WMODA, which is a 501c3 not-for-profit museum.

Contact the Ardmore Design Shop at WMODA to purchase the new Thanda Nests collection of table linens and outdoor pillows and to order fabric by the yard.