Painted Bark Cloth
Lese people, Ituri Forest, D.R. Congo
26.75″ (68 cm) high by 20.5″ (52 cm) wide
20th century
A bark cloth from the Lese people in the Ituri forest of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. These were made from the inner bark of trees, pounded and prepared by men, then painted by women with twigs, fingers or twine. They were folded in half over a sash or belt and worn as ritual dress for celebrations and rites of passage.
This piece was collected in the 1980s by a noted ethnologist working on an Ituri forestry project. It is embellished with the embroidery unique to the Lese of light colored raffia fiber in a meandering chainstitch, which zig-zags along the center fold as well as a small jazzy riff in the upper left quadrant. The long edges are blanket-stitched with raffia, which is punctuated by small triangles, and a straight chainstitch further bisects each half of the cloth. The Lese sometimes applied a stain, in addition to the darker line work, and in this case it shows its fugitive nature with some slight lightening from the original state.
Published in Mbuti Design: Paintings by Pygmy Women of the Ituri Forest by Georges Meurant and Robert Farris Thompson, p79. This is one of only three Lese pieces illustrated in the main section of the book.
$3500
