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Pitt Rivers Museum

1910.1.121

Square of grass cloth


1910.1.121

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Square of grass cloth
Cultural groups
Kuba
Ngongo
Person
Field collector Emil Torday
PRM source Emil Torday
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1909
Date collected
1907 - 1909
Acquisition information
Donated: 1910
Materials and processes
Material Raffia Leaf Plant, Material Pigment, Process Woven, Process Dyed
Object numbers
Accession number: 1910.1.121
Research and responses

Hilde Van Braeckel examined this cloth in April 1995 and supplied a set of technical notes and a colour print of it (see RDF). She identifies it as Kuba Ngongo and suggests that the simple striped pattern indicates it would have been attached to another cloth to form a larger cloth or dance skirt. She notes that the pattern was reserved by application of strips of reed (the needle punctures still being visible). She notes also the blanket-stitch hem, with the fourth side still frayed, i.e. unfinished. The colour has been produced by the use of a red dye, tukula, redwood. [JC 27 5 1996]

Patricia Darish examined this cloth in May 1996 and agreed with Van Braeckel's identification. [JC 20 7 1996]

Search terms: Textile, Specimen, Dance, Clothing, Skirt