Under the leadership of the Bushoong tribe, a distinct textile tradition has developed in the Kingdom of the Kuba (or Bakuba), a confederation of 18 tribes in southern Congo. Men weave the foundation using light brown, raffia palm fibres (in pieces of approximately 1 square meter). Women then sew together the requisite pieces into such ‘Mapel’ wrapover skirts for both men and women. Finally, sourcing patterns from the rich repertoire of the Kuba, which encompasses about 200 motifs (stripes, hooks, arrows, circles, rectangles, infinite knots etc), women stitch geometrical appliqués onto the front outer side of the wrapover skirt. The present Kuba-wrapover skirt 'mapel' is very long, complete, richly embroidered using black double-stitches and dyed red in its entirety (through the use of ‘Tukula’ redwood powder). It consists of 8 pieces sewn together, trimmed all-round with a border made of the same material. Sewn to the edge are small, round decoration raffia-fibre beads. A piece so complete, with only a small hole in the first piece and only a few old original repairs, is rare. Otherwise in perfect condition! Length: c. 515 cm, Width: c. 87 cm. First half of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance:
Austrian Private Collection.

Lit.:
‘Weaving Abstraction. Kuba textiles and the woven art of Central Africa’ by Vanessa Drake Moraga, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., ill. 73, 83 et al...