Panel from a Woman’s Ceremonial Overskirt
D.R.Congo, Kuba Shoowa people
Late 19th century
Raffia, natural dye, with an early purple chemical dye, cut pile and linear embroidery
63.5.x 61.5 cm (25 x 24 ins)
Provenance: Pierre Loos collection, Brussels
The rounded end of this complete early panel, as well as the border layout, indicates that it was intended to be joined to another panel to create a woman’s ceremonial or funerary overskirt––the type of prestigious cut-pile textile that Shoowa women made for their own use. However, it is finished neatly on all four sides, with no evidence of stitching, suggesting that it was kept as a single panel, possibly for funerary offering and display. Three different patterns are explored in each section. The side borders are more or less similar in design, although time and a different artist’s hand have yielded slightly visual effects, while the center section complicates the structure with a variety of pattern innovations in each square.
$2500
