Mat

19th–early 20th century

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Kongo women wove such large-scale panels to enhance interior spaces. In this masterful example, the field is defined by a continuous network of a repeating design composed of lozenge or diamond forms filled with an interior fret motif. That overall graphic leitmotif is intensified and magnified at the center by a monumental version outlined in black and fret bands. Its presence is subtly integrated with the background through shared formal elements and the way it dissolves at its summit and base.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Mat
Date: 19th–early 20th century
Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
Culture: Kongo peoples
Medium: Fiber, pigments
Dimensions: 28 11/16 × 50 3/8 × 1/8 in. (72.9 × 128 × 0.3 cm)
Classification: Textiles
Credit Line: Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing