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Belt (Yeemy Mambolmashet)
Kuba (Kasai region, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Central Africa)
19th century
- Medium
- Jute, raffia, cowrie shells, and beads
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Dimensions
- 223.5 × 13.3 × 1.3 cm (88 1/4 × 5 1/4 × 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
In the Kuba Kingdom, ceremonial occasions require ostentatious displays of wealth and status through dress and other attributes. Specialized male artists excel in the making of beaded regalia like the belt displayed here. They sew both beads and shells onto a woven raffia foundation to create geometric designs. The interlaced pattern on this belt, called imbol, is a favorite Kuba motif that can also be seen on the raffia skirts worn with such beaded ornaments.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
