Te Kohinga Tangata
Collection Record
Mat, Ceremonial Artifact
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.
Provenance Place:
Congo
D65.999
Details
- Production Place
- Zaire
- Provenance Place
- Congo
- Measurements
- 690 x 710mm
- Media/Materials
- Raffia palm fibre, Palm fibre, fibre, vegetal, organic, Dye, processed material
- Credit Line
- Pres. Mrs Aitken, Tūhura Otago Museum Collection
- Rights
- CC BY-NC/Creative Commons
- Department
- World, Costume and Textiles
- Accession Number
- D65.999
- On Display
- Yes
Rapua te kohika
Search the Collection
Rapu mā ia wāhaka
