Mbuti Barkcloth Panel, Democratic Republic of Congo
Product ID: T0800-123
$1,695.00
About this piece
A tidy ledger of hooks and bars, ruled in ink.
Mbuti artists of the Ituri Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, painted this barkcloth panel with pigment in the 20th century. Painted bark sheets are commonly associated with everyday dress and with ceremony, and designs often favor bold repetition. This one is organized in rows, with thin horizontal lines crossing vertical rules to form boxes. Each box holds a hooked stroke or a pair of bars. The cream ground is lightly mottled, and the upper edge is irregular.
About 29 by 13 inches. The most orderly one in the room, and it knows it.
