Palm fibre paint brush: Ancient Egyptian, Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, Upper Egypt, 19th - 26th Dynasty, c.1295 -664 BC

Personal amulet worn around the neck by Muslims, consisting of three hanging packets on a cord of twisted leather, each containing written passages from the Qur'an, one square packet is covered with woven palm fibre in geometric pattern and on either side are two smaller rectangular leather-bound packets: Africa, West Africa

Basket of palm fibre: Pacific Peoples, Fiji

Fan of palm fibre: Pacific Peoples, Fiji

Basket of woven palm fibre collected by Dr John Kirk, economic botanist on David Livingstone's Zambezi Expedition,1858-1864: Eastern Africa, Mozambique, Zambezi Delta

Skirt of bark fibre and woven palm fibre in geometric patterns: Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuba people, early 20th century

Cover of woven raffia palm fibre, with cut-pile embroidery, and corner pom-poms: Central Africa, Republic of the Congo, Loango, Kongo people, 17th century

Man's waistbelt made of fibre from 'binder' at base of leaf stalk of coconut palm: Melanesia, Vanuatu, Epi (Api), late 19th century

Paddle of reddish wood with leaf-shaped blade morticed into rebate in shaft and tied with palm fibre: Melanesian, Matty Island