Currently not on view
Woman's skirt,
before 1912
Mbuun artist
2012-94
Woven and embroidered by men, this hip wrapper or skirt was worn by women on ceremonial or funerary occasions. The tan central pieces display the understated texture and figuration of a plain weave with a subtle pattern. The embroidered borders depict a variation on the lozenge design, thought to be a schematic representation of the lizard, a sacred matrilineal clan ancestor. The wrapper would have been worn just below the scarifications that encircled the waists of Mbun women, creating a visual echo between the geometric lozenge patterns on the raffia and those on the skin. Emil Lejeune, a Belgian colonial administrator working in the then Congo Free State, collected this textile before 1912, providing us with the rare ability to closely date a work from Africa.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Woman's skirt
Dates
before 1912
Maker
Mbuun artist
Medium
Raffia and dye
Dimensions
74.3 x 113 x 0.3 cm (29 1/4 x 44 1/2 x 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Hugh Leander Adams, Mary Trumbull Adams and Hugh Trumbull Adams Princeton Art Fund
Object Number
2012-94
Place Made
Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kwilu-Kongo River Basin
Type
Materials
Techniques
Subject
field collected by Emile Lejeune (Belgian colonial administrator) between 1905-1912; Lejeune family, Belgium until circa 2000s; [Alan Guisson, Brussels, Belgium]; [Andres Moraga, Berkeley, CA until 2012]; Princeton University Art Museum, 2012
