Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

A tight weave of dark patterns ends in a plain golden tail and a single dark patch.

This tcaka or dance skirt is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is applique raffia. Typical woven panels measure about 26 by 28 inches and are sewn together into the great length of a wrap-around skirt, which can at times reach beyond twenty feet. Long textile whose upper part is covered in dense small-scale geometric patterns in brown on tan. A dark stain-like patch sits on the left, and the lower section becomes a plain golden cloth with a straight cut end. It is 40 inches wide and 181 long.

Busy at the top and quietly sensible at the bottom.