Long red Kuba
Code: 2093b
Dimensions:W: 192cm (75.6")H: 77.5cm (30.5")
£1,250.00 Approx $1640.42, €1479.29
A single long hand stitched African Kuba textile, early C20th. Depicting
geometric shapes made using fine black thread hand sown on a terracotta
red background cloth. Kuba textiles were unique to the Democratic
Republic of Congo formally Zaire and were known for their use of
geometric designs and surface decoration. Tho men made the cloth or
rafia - it was the women who did all the geometric designs and
embroidery. The background cloth of these Kubas have been dyed with
twool - a deep red substance made from the heartwood of specific
tropical trees and only used in prestige cloths. In Kuba culture twool
is believed to have magical and protective properties. Kuba cloths had
many purposes including being used for ceremonies, rituals as well as
exchanged as currency. This long example has been mounted on a stretcher.
