H x W x D: 6.2 x 84.4 x 18.8 cm (2 7/16 x 33 1/4 x 7 3/8 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Date:
Early 20th century
Label Text:
Woven goods, such as cloth strips and fiber mats, were used in parts of Africa as currency. Parties of the transaction used variations in width and the quality of the weave as a means to negotiate value. Cloth was also frequently used in connection with other currencies, such as brass rods, thus lending additional leverage to the negotiation. Cloth or mats of more or less uniform size were used for gifts, peace offerings, payment from a son to his father upon attaining adulthood, and payment upon the birth of a child or the burial of a parent. Cloth currency was also used as a tribute for a spouse who remained faithful or, by contrast, as a penalty for adultery. In central Africa raffia woven mats, stored flat or rolled into bundles, were a popular form of cloth currency in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Description:
Woven raffia mat rolled into a thin tube with braided ends.
Provenance:
Emil E.O. Gorlia, Belgian Congo, 1905-1927 to before 1977
Sandford M. Harris, Oak Harbor, Washington, before 1977 to 1999
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