Costume and Textiles

Cut pile embroidered raffia cloth., These textiles are made by the Kuba people of the Kasai river area of Central Zaire. A plain weave raffia fabric was woven by the men and embroidered by the women with great accuracy and skill. The fine lines of the design are stitched with dyed raffia and the pile areas are stitched with groups of fine raffia fibres which are then cut to short even lengths. The abstract designs are often similar to wood carvings, house decorations and the ritual body scars of both men and women. These cloths display wealth and prestige on ceremonial occasions. They assume great importance at funerals where they reaffirm enduring social relationships and, as burial cloths, indicate adherence to belief in after life.

Complete pake (rain cape) made of flax and tussock. Thick plaited muka fibre at the top edge, with smaller plaited ties attached. Top third is bordered with a shorter layer of fibre. Bottom edge is uneven.

Zulu head band of cowrie shells sewn on to cloth

A small konae, a two cornered bag made with an even number of whenu (strands) from a folded square base. This Konae is woven from Houhere and completed with an external whiri and has then been folded internally on itself.

Tabua, ceremonial whale tooth pendant

Complete kahu huruhuru, with peacock, chicken and turkey feathers. There are peacock feathers in a square in centre of the cloak, with wool borders approximately 8cm wide of blue, red and black. Along the top there are four ties using the same wool. One pair of ties are short, and set back from the edge by approximately 10cm, there is a longer pair of ties at each corner. Manufactured using a whatu aho patihi technique (single pair twining). The 1first whenu are made with two threads; one blue wool and one undyed flax.