Sourcing the Muse

THE POWERHOUSE OBJECTS WHICH INSPIRED GEORGIA CHAPMAN AND MAUREEN SOHN

Kuba ceremonial skirt c1940

Kuba ceremonial skirt c1940The Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Africa produce elaborate decorative raphia textiles such as this skirt which is worn wrapped around the waist. The plain-weave base cloth is made by Kuba men on a loom. The embroidery is then worked by women using a fine raphia fibre softened by being rubbed in the hands to give it a silky texture. This is threaded through a needle which picks up one or more warps on the base cloth bringing up the thread so both ends appear on the same side. The thread is then cut with a knife, leaving a short pile. This is repeated to create the velvet-like design.

Raphia palm, made about 1940.

Purchased 1984. A10692


'Asyut' shawl early 20th century

'Asyut' shawl early 20th centuryThis glittering metallic shawl is decorated with strips of silver folded through a cotton net base and beaten flat to form an all-over geometric design with stylised figurative and faunal motifs. Large numbers of these shawls were made in Egypt for the tourist market in the early 20 th century. This shawl was bought by Margaret Anne Woods during the 1914-1918 war while she was an army-nursing sister in Egypt.

Gift of Margaret Herbst, 1980. 85/282


Samoan 'siapo' (bark cloth) c1930

Samoan 'siapo' (bark cloth) c1930Bark-cloth textiles are an important product of Pacific Island culture, and the craft has been practised for hundreds of years. The textiles serve a wide range of purposes as clothing, hangings, curtains and as articles of trade and ritual.

The cloth is made by stripping the inner bark of the paper Mulberry and beating it over an anvil until the fibres are spread into a fine sheet. Several sheets are then felted or pasted together to make larger sheets. Natural dyes decorate the cloth which is either hand painted or a design is rubbed onto it from wooden design tablets.

Made in Samoa, 1920-1940.

Gift of Mrs Alfreda Marcovitch (nee Goninan), 1987. 89/766

Interview with Georgia Chapman and Maureen Sohn