| Imaginative geometric patterns in various shades of brown, beige and black.
The Shoowa are a sub-group of the Kuba and are famous for their raphia mats.
Collectively known as “Kasai velvets”, they were used as a form of primitive money, that reflected a families wealth and status within the community and among other things where used as a payment for a bride, swaddling for newborn children as well as a shroud for corpses.
Lit.: "Matten, Müscheln, Manillen - Schöne Werte Fremdes Geld" - Völkerkundesammlung der Hansestadt Lübeck 2005 - Page 20 |
