Woman’s Bustle (Negbe) and Front Piece (Nogimwu)
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Object Label
At the beginning of the twentieth century, upper-class Mangbetu women wore a small banana or plantain leaf bustle (called a negbe) in the back to cover their buttocks. The women appliqued delicately cut and colored pieces of leaves atop an oval pad built up of layered plantain leaves. A similar but smaller object (called a nogetwe) was worn in the front over a belt to fasten a piece of bark cloth in place as a frontal covering.
Caption
Mangbetu. Woman’s Bustle (Negbe) and Front Piece (Nogimwu), early 20th century. Banana leaf, raffia, a: 9 5/8 x 13 3/16 in. (24.4 x 33.5 cm) b: 3 3/8 x 4 1/2 in. (8.6 x 11.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1931, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 31.1835a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.31.1835b_front.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Woman’s Bustle (Negbe) and Front Piece (Nogimwu)
Date
early 20th century
Geography
Place made: Ubangi or Uele region, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medium
Banana leaf, raffia
Classification
Dimensions
a: 9 5/8 x 13 3/16 in. (24.4 x 33.5 cm) b: 3 3/8 x 4 1/2 in. (8.6 x 11.4 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1931, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
31.1835a-b
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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