Kuba Tcaka or Dance Skirt with Arrow Motifs

Black hooks, crosses and arrows scatter across a cream ground, ending in a small tan patch.

This tcaka or dance skirt with arrow motifs is Kuba, from Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is 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 with a cream ground covered in bold black marks: crosses, arrows, hooks and dashes in loose columns. The bottom end has a small folded, olive-tan block with fine pattern. The edges are straight and clean. It is 31 inches wide and 206 long.

A page of brisk black handwriting nobody dared to correct.