Panel Originally Intended as a Ceremonial Skirt

KubaWW-1901-131988

1901·Raffia, plain weave; pieced; embroidered with raffia·547.4 × 100.6 cm (215 1/2 × 39 5/8 in.)

<p>According to oral tradition, the seventeenth-century Kuba king Shyaam introduced plush-textured raffia textiles to his kingdom. Raffia panels have long been considered valuable in Central Africa; plain panels were used as currency as early as the sixteenth century. Increasingly decorative panels, embellished by women with innumberable combinations of geometric patterns, may have developed from this practice. Until the early twentieth century, such panels were exchanged in a variety of contexts—for instance, as royal tribute or part of a marriage contract. Today they continue to be collected by families, used in funeral displays, and buried with important adults.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1901
Medium: Raffia, plain weave; pieced; embroidered with raffia
Dimensions: 547.4 × 100.6 cm (215 1/2 × 39 5/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Kuba

Artist

Kuba

Textile

Kuba is a Czech and Japanese surname. In Czech, Kuba is a pet form of the given name Jakub. Notable people with the surname include:Filip Kuba, Czech ice hockey player Gabriela Kubová, Czech ice dancer Ludvík Kuba (1863–1956), Czech artist and musician Martin Kuba, Czech politician Masatomo Kuba, Japanese footballer Paula Kubová, Slovak volleyball player Simona Kubová, Czech swimmer

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Panel

1934 · Raffia, plain weave; with drawnwork embroidered in overcast stitches; pulled thread work embroidered in buttonhole stitches; and embroidered in stem stitches; three panels pieced

WW-1934-132002