Woman's Ceremonial Skirt

Description

Assembled of individually worked panels sewn together, this skirt is embellished with an ever-shifting array of patterns. Although Kuba men are responsible for preparing and weaving raffia, Kuba women decorate the cloth with imagination and artistry. To make a skirt of this size, several women from the same extended family would contribute different sections. Raffia textiles have long been an important part of Kuba artistic production.

Provenance

Richard F. Faletti, Clarendon Hills, IL, by Nov. 30, 1993 [incoming receipt RX20079; copy in curatorial iobject file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1993.

Woman's Ceremonial Skirt

Kuba

Late 19th century-early 20th century

Accession Number

134096

Medium

Raffia, plain weave; embroidered with raffia in buttonhole, pearl, and stem stitches, and running stitches cut to form pile; edged with raffia and hemp, plain weave, 2:2 oblique interlacing, and raffia-wrapped-raffia cord

Dimensions

165.2 × 78.8 cm (65 × 31 in.)

Classification

textile

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection