Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt Panel

Big cream scrolls and a square star on brown, as bold as a map of an imaginary city.

This tcaka or dance skirt panel is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is applique raffia. Abstract geometric designs on the cloth act as a visual language valued across Kuba society, and some say it grew from scarification patterns, crop patterns or even divine intervention. Long textile with a warm brown ground and thick cream lines forming a maze-like spiral and a squared medallion with radiating bars. Frayed fringe shows along one edge and the lower end is a pale, plain tan. It is 26 inches wide and 97 long.

Large, graphic and never once shy about the pattern.