KUBA TEXTILES 85 FIG. 10 (left): Royal sword, ilwoon. Kuba, Bushoong group, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 19th century. Collected by Gérard Louis Edouard Andreae, before 1894. Iron, wood. L: 68.5 cm. Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, EO.0.0.31299. Photo: J.-M. Vandyck; © Musée Royale de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren. FIG. 11 (above): Royal headdress. Kuba, Bushoong group, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Late 19th century. Collected by Gérard Louis Edouard Andreae, before 1894. Raffia, cotton, cowrie shells, glass beads. W: 33 cm. Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, EO.0.0.31183. Photo: J.-M. Vandyck; © Musée Royale de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren. their beauty but for their large scale—some examples reach nearly thirty feet in length—they are worn by men and women on special occasions such as funerals and display the status of the wearer. Kuba Textiles situates skirt and overskirt embellishment in the context of Kuba styles, but unlike other exhibitions that situate these textiles alongside a panoply of other Kuba arts, it considers them in terms of directly related objects. It opens with the earliest known wooden sculpture of a seated Kuba king (a form known as ndop), which has been dated to the eighteenth century (fig. 9). It sets the stage for the importance of the use of cloth among the Kuba peoples, since according to the oral tradition, lavish woven cloth is one of the identifying attributes of the founder of the kingdom, and therefore of subsequent kings, even though this is not specifically depicted on any of the extant wooden commemorative sculptures. What are depicted on the carving are richly embellished accessories, and a corresponding headdress (fig. 11), sword (fig. 10), pendant, anklets, bracelets, and belt are displayed alongside the carved wooden sculpture. These objects date back to the late nineteenth century and are drawn for the first time from the MRAC collection. The second, and central, section of the exhibition displays the above-described skirts and overskirts, the surfaces of which are entirely covered by asymmetrical or irregularly embroidered, appliquéd, or tie-dyed patterns. As important as the textiles and objects featured in the installation are, the scholarship in the catalog is innova-
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