Aristocratic Woman’s Ceremonial Overskirt (Ntshakabwiin)
Bushoong people (Kuba complex), DR Congo, 1st half 20th c.
Raffia palm fiber, natural dyes and stem-stitch embroidery
22.5” h x 42.75” w (57.15 x 108.59 cm)
Price: $1,200
A classic example of an Bushoong courtly woman’s ceremonial overskirt. Finely woven borders surround a central panel dyed red (a color reserved for royals) with ngula, a powder derived from the bark of the tree Pterocarpus soyauxii.
REFERENCES
Moraga, Vanessa Drake. Weaving abstraction: Kuba Textiles and the Woven Art of Central Africa.
Washington, D.C.: Textile Museum, 2011, p. 68.
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