Mae Festa 50 Years of Collecting Textiles - Peter Pap Oriental Rugs

AFRICA – Sub-Sahara
Cloth Square (Latoon)
(above)
Mid-20 th Century
Showa Ethnic Group, Kuba Kingdom,
Democratic Republic of Congo
Plainwoven raffia palm leaf fiber enhanced
with running embroidery and pile, the latter
natural and dyed black.
59 x 66 cm 23 x 26 in
The Showa people are traditionally credited with
introducing pile embroidery to Kubaland. Before the
18 th century, woven raffia squares were the primary
currency in the Central Congo. Amongst the Kuba
such squares, exhibiting the investment of time and
creativity, retained their cultural value, and could be
used as gifts or as payment for fines, and were on rare
occasions employed to embellish ceremonial costumes.
This example exhibits the Showa penchant for theme
and variation, sometimes resulting in subtle shifts
by the border finish, it also features the bifurcated
triangles, one half in black pile, that one regularly
sees in Showa latoon. Here only one unit is broken
up in checkerboard fashion by the use of black pile
against natural.
364
Panel from Ceremonial Underskirt (Nchak)
Mid-20 th Century
Bushong Ethnic Group, Kuba Kingdom,
Democratic Republic of Congo
Raffia palm leaf fiber, plainwoven, embroidered
and appliquéd. One of several panels, woven by
men, and typically embroidered by women of
the extended family.
59 x 67 cm 23 x 26½ in
This panel is from one of the basic types of ceremonial
underskirt worn by Bushong women on special occasions.
It contains three small appliqués, which may have
covered breaks in the ground cloth. The elaborate web
of embroidery in a broadly rectilinear format is
characteristic of many of these long skirts as are the
endless knot and “arrow head” motifs.