Woman’s Skirt

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Woman’s Skirt

Artist Kuba Peoples, Shoowa Group African

Place of OriginDemocratic Republic of Congo

Datemid 20th century

DimensionsH: 34 1/4 in. (87.0 cm), L: 129 3/4 in. (329.57 cm).

MediumRaffia palm fiber with applique designs.

ClassificationTextiles and Fiber

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1977.73

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 13, Canaday

Collections

Decorative Arts

Published References

"New Acquisitions," African Arts, vol. 15, no. 1, Nov. 1981, repr. p. 67.

Roberts, Mary Nooter, Facing Africa: The African Art Collection of the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1998, pp. 46-47, repr. (b/w.).

Label TextKuba-embroidered and appliquéd fabrics with complex geometric patterns were used as tribute, bride wealth, and debt payment. Both Kuba men and women made textiles, but each with specific duties. Young men strip and slit the palm fronds, while women prepare the palm fibers. Only men set up the loom and perform the weaving, but women dye the cloth and do the embroidery, or in this case, appliqué—using black embroidery to stitch cloth fragments in different color tones onto a background cloth. The seemingly abstract patterns have specific names, such as “tortoise shell,” “interlace,” and “feather,” but their meanings are known only to the women who stitch them.