Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt, with Inscription

A patchwork of tan squares, finely drawn lines and one big pale blank block.

This tcaka or dance skirt, with inscription is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is embroidered raffia. The cloth is made from raffia palm leaves, which are gathered, dried, softened, dyed and stripped into fibers before being woven into panels and then embroidered. Long textile made of patched rectangles in sand, tan and brown. The upper half carries tiny, dense line work along one edge, and the middle includes a large, smooth blank panel. The edges roll and undulate softly. It is 35 inches wide and 224 long.

Mostly patches, thoroughly pleased with its own seams.