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Dancing skirt
African (Tutsi)
early 20th century
Object Place: Rwanda or Burundi
Medium/Technique
Pounded ficus bark; plant dyes
Dimensions
Length x width: 82 x 234 cm (32 5/16 x 92 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Jeremy and Hanne Grantham
Accession Number2010.326
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAfrica and Oceania, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsCostumes
DescriptionBrown bark cloth skirt with black vertical bands of geometric patterning.
ProvenanceProbably by the 1930s, purchased in Africa (probably Congo) by a Belgian settler or traveler [see note 1]. By 2007, Ambre Congo S.C.R.L., Brussels; September 19, 2007, purchased from Ambre Congo by Andrés Moraga, Berkeley, CA; purchased from Moraga by the MFA (Accession date May 19, 2010)
NOTES:
[1] The majority of African material found in Belgium was collected during the early 20th century by colonial Belgian administrators, priests or businessmen. Dealer Andrés Moraga notes in e-mail correspondance with Pam Parmal on file that he was told that the piece had been in "an old Belgian collection" and brought there in the 1930s. They were exported from Africa as "curiosities" by Belgian families returning to Europe from the Congo, and can still be occasionally found in Belgian estate sales.
NOTES:
[1] The majority of African material found in Belgium was collected during the early 20th century by colonial Belgian administrators, priests or businessmen. Dealer Andrés Moraga notes in e-mail correspondance with Pam Parmal on file that he was told that the piece had been in "an old Belgian collection" and brought there in the 1930s. They were exported from Africa as "curiosities" by Belgian families returning to Europe from the Congo, and can still be occasionally found in Belgian estate sales.