Woven “Currency” Cloth
Kasai Region, DR Congo
Early 20th century
Raffia plain weave, fringed on four sides, natural dye
26.75 x 28.25 ins (68 x 72 cm); professionally mounted on a wood stretcher
The symbolic and monetary value accorded raffia and the weavings made from this elemental fiber are encapsulated in this extraordinarily abstract and modern panel.
In the wider Congo region, such cloths were widely traded and accumulated as a commodity of commercial and ritual exchange – hence their description as “currency.”
Most raffia panels were entirely plain, undecorated, and usually rolled and kept in bundles. The same type of weaving also supplied the ground cloth for the surface patterning applied with cut-pile, embroidery and applique techniques since Congo traditions rarely employed structural weave techniques, such as weft or warp floats. This example, however, brilliantly makes use of color alone, that is dyed warps and wefts as a means for creating a basket weave pattern in which striated horizontal and vertical bands appear to go under and over each other in an irregular and stimulating visual rhythm.
SOLD
