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ETHNOGRAPHIC: AFRICA: CONGO (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC): LOT of 3 raffia cloths

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Ethnographic Start Price:80.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 150.00 USD
ETHNOGRAPHIC: AFRICA: CONGO (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC): LOT of 3 raffia cloths
SOLD
80.00USD+ (16.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2021 Nov 01 @ 19:29UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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ETHNOGRAPHIC: AFRICA: CONGO (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC): LOT of 3 raffia cloths, 59 x 42cm, 52 x 50cm, 48 x 43cm respectively, woven from raffia palm fibers by the Lele people of the Kasai region (Opitz p.109), ex Charles Opitz Collection. The raffia cloth was a common unit of exchange with a well-defined exchange rate for a wide variety of purposes, from buying axes (10), goats (20 for male & 40 for female goats), and slaves (100), to paying bride price (50 to the father & 40 to the mother), and adultery fines (100). A man also was expected to give his wife 20 lengths of cloth upon the delivery of each child, and failing to do so could result in the repudiation of the marriage.