DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
M’BITI PYGMY PEOPLE, ITURI RAINFOREST, first half 20th century
painted on bark that has been soaked, hand pounded and then soaked and pounded again
30” X 14”; size as mounted on a stretcher: 34 ½” X 19 ½”
The bark paintings of the M'buti Pygmy go back to very early times. They express the experiences of the M’buti Pygmy people and also express homage to their deity. The men prepared the bark panels from the inner bark of the fig tree. The women painted these pieces with a twig (finer lines) or a finger (thicker lines) dipped into a pot of dye made from the juices of various fruits mixed with charcoal from the fire and then fixed with the sap of the gardenia.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
BANKUTU / BUSHANGO / NKUTU / NKUTSHU PEOPLE early 20th century
brass; 14¼” and 15½” and 17¼” heights
In 1910 one boloko could buy a ram and ten made up a man’s offering for the hand of a future wife.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, SHOOWA PEOPLE, early 20th century
raffia with continuous and cut-loop pile embroidery; 21" X 22 ½” as mounted on a stretcher
SONGYE PEOPLE, Democratic Republic of Congo, 20th century
17½” high x 14"
UZBEKISTAN, LAKAI PEOPLE 19th century
silk chain stitch embroidery on brushed woven wool; 23 ¼” (34” with fringe) X 14 ½”
UZBEKISTAN, KUNGRAT PEOPLE late 19th century – early 20th century
fine silk chain stitch embroidery mainly on black wool with a small piece of black velvet background for the top border only; braided fringes and the ends of several braids are jointed together to form a single tassel; 23” X 22 ½” (without fringes)
PERU, CHANCAY CULTURE (1100 – 1400 AD)
camelid wool, two different techniques of supplementary warp floats motif of tiny birds
59 ½” X 64” as mounted on a stretcher
KAITAG PANEL; DAGHESTAN, early 19th century
laid and couched stitch silk embroidery on hand woven cotton; 37 ¾” X 22 ¾” as mounted on a stretcher
The Kaitag region in southwestern Daghestan is between Turkey, the Caspian Sea and North of Persia. Daghestan has 33 separate local ethnic groups.
This panel is for ritual use in connection with birth, marriage and death. These types of embroideries function as cradle covers and their dimensions confirm this; brides wrap their wedding gifts in them and in mountainous hamlets the embroideries are used in mourning rituals. Embroideries using natural dyes probably date from before 1865 (after that date synthetic purple dyes became available.
Comment: There is an overall well balanced, schematic appearance to this piece, although the variety of shapes used, created by solid embroidery or negative space (areas void of embroidery) are not rigidly and uniformly drawn and are in fact not evenly spaced. All these elements combine to make this a rather unique composition.
YOUNG BOY’S HAT; TURKEY, KUTAHYA (western Anatolia); late 19th century
beads on cotton 5 ½” X 7”
YOUNG BOY’S HAT; TURKEY, KUTAHYA (western Anatolia); late 19th century
beads on cotton 5 ½” X 7”
YOUNG BOY’S HAT; TURKEY, KUTAHYA (western Anatolia); late 19th century
beads on cotton 6” X 7”
Reportedly, hats such as these were worn by young boys in the city of Kutahya (near Bursa) when they went to study the Koran. They were only in fashion for a few decades at the end of the 19th century.