Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt

A long textile bows into a graceful curve, with a dark band running down one side.

This tcaka or dance skirt is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is embroidered & woven 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. Very long textile in tan and grey-brown, photographed in a gentle curve. Fine pattern bands fill the length, and a dark strip of cloth trails along the right side and extends beyond the lower end. It is 36 inches wide and 195 long.

Curved by its own weight and carrying it well.