Featured Collection Object
by Vanessa Drake Moraga
Chief’s Tunic or Cape (kinzembe or zamba kya mfumu), D.R. Congo or Angola, Kongo-related peoples, Possibly 19th century, raffia palm fiber; openwork. TM 1962.1.14. Textile Museum Acquisition.
This tunic is unique for being one of the few ceremonial garments from Central Africa for which there is a long historical and visual record, documenting the continuity of the style and its association with Kongo nobles and chiefs for over 400 years. It is similar to an openwork cape worn by Antonio Manuel Ne Vunda, the first ambassador from the Kongo kingdom to the Vatican, who died after arriving in Rome in 1608 (Ne Vunda was commemorated with a marble portrait by Franceso Caporale, commissioned by the Pope in 1629). Congo chiefs were still wearing this emblematic garment in the 1880s.
This piece is on view at The Textile Museum in Weaving Abstraction: Kuba Textiles and The Woven Art of Central Africa through February 12, 2012.