Show A I f fi 6 d t i iT Y if ii V I tJ rf M Wt d 11 r Charming Gowns Whose Embroidery Copies the Colors and Designs wearing a gorgeous Used by b the Congo Savages in the Fabrics They Weave From Bark I cloth piece inspiring that of our the is fash bark barkand now ioa designers and Palm Pal m t a a ay y k kg kJ kA L g J A ti aa K A eaves r t xV V 0 S One of the 5 i r ir f lf E able new dresses k s 1 r Ifs whose over allover em- em emb em b may iv ivf r 1 1 J 1 is s a faith 3 ri i ik imay I is isIs fry Is 1 t ful copy of o f the bark k f i r i fl cloth robe of state stated d r j jc i c N f r r t r rr i d I lei I r 1 worn by a savage r C 1 F w wa a i 1 y j African kin king p A j f faN aN aNy y t Stir e tom i ar d m mt mai lx r ai t te t tI I e A 4 t I Il p 7 r J v 3 4 o 1 X Xa t a t k ki ka f fr x vs r Ma MaA 9 trE a 3 1 i yon yong g o oMa A r reSt e ef f Sy a r a d j b S 3 l j yN P a w z a la i ir r 1 t C 1 Natives in a Congo jungle villare e weaving from strips torn from the leaves of the raff palm the cloth a yb 3 which will later be embroidered by hand in a wide variety of remarkable patterns and colors I WE spIrit of af old aId King Bing Kin Tut ankh Tut 1 amen the long dead Egyptian Pharaoh is rot rat going to ta hold hald un- un lint undisputed un undisputed disputed sway 13 over er the world of af fashion t would auld The Th as long as many thought it t t tery ery ne newest est ideas in women's amens amen's dress are coming from fram a II quite different and even source from from the more extraordinary source primitive negro negra sai sa savages ages who wha inhabit the jungles of af darkest Africa On our aur most fashionable 1 avenues you on an oncan can see run en wearing fabrics whose whoseL brilliant colors and curious geometrical designs are aro faithful copies of af tho the hand hand- woven hand 13 en bark and raffia cloths claths worn by the tho Congo Conga savages And the looms of af the textile manufacturers are aro said y J to be bo working overtime ove to ta proY pro pro pro- Y duce tuce an endless of af these striking dress mate- mate pals AW So great ia 3 the interest inter inter- t est in hi this primitive negro negra art that the G f fI Brooklyn N Y Mut Mu- Mu w J y t J fc I scum has r recently e c e n t I Y S Sy y vi i placed on exhibition eJ aI a S I largo and most inter- inter interS S 1 1 a 1 collection of af native native na- na i tive work ark w ork from fram the Belr Belgian BelgIan Bel- Bel I r V gIan Congo beautiful Congo beautiful f Vf i Vf f I hand woven hand materials K aven wonderfully car carved v e d Mf d weapons basket work wark v fe and statues of tho the strange f strange fetishes worshiped wor- wor by the negroes Hero Hera the tho dress de de- de designers signers te textile manufacturers v x S painters sculptors and others other who mho ho seek this sort of af inspiration I are finding all they need The Tho exhibition also includes numerous dresses nl A Mn An I the Africans handiwork I IThe The savages whose hose art is beginning to tG hase ha such a n surprising influence upon civilized life are called Bantus They inhabIt the Belgian Congo Canga along the banks of the Congo Canga River Riser Although the most intelligent of af any of af the African negro races their highest mentality u M Manly i ionly only anly that of af the average American chIld of eight or ar ten years x ears And yet set et these primitive e children of the jungle produce things of beauty things things that are ar thought worthy althy of ser serving sen-ing ing as guides and models for forthe forthe forthe the adornment and delight of af our own highly sophisticated world The Bantus hs 11 live e a in little huts covered with nth skins or ar bark and often hidden 8 away ay in the the jungles jungle's thickest under under- undergrowth undergrowth undergrowth growth The primitive architecture of af their homes reflects their low v mentality as does docs everything else about them them- them their thick lips coarse features feature and flat fiat faces They are arc sa savages ages ofa of a II fierce and mistrustful nature and their then weapons which they adorn adom with Ith wonderful carvings carvings ings and other decorations aro ore truly dreadful things But v what hilt most roost interests tho rho modern woman aman and those thase who wha design her gowns is the clothing the Bantus wear This is scanty after the manner of af savages lI ing not nat far from fram the equator but It males makes up in beauty what it lacks In For Far wear on an state occasions the Bantus use cloth elath made mado from fram the bark of trees beaten to tG the tho desired thinness v with great mallets According to their thell tra- tra traditions tra traditions they have been using bark for 4 clothing for eleven centuries Before that they frankly admit they wore ware noth- noth nothing noth noth- nothing ing mg at all 1111 1 the he bark is cut up into tiny triangles r rectangles dangles rhomboids and other ather shapes and these are laboriously sewed together I One ofa of a se series es of paintings by Mrs Stewart Culin illus ilIus- illus the su superstitious superstitious fears that sur sur- surround round ur-round round the Congo 4 V fetishes the carved t y wooden Images images on a w N which the natives 1 ii i to toe tox e x rely to protect them x y ii i d from evil spirits Qt Q fut AA n J 4 y I II 1 l f fI J r t t e M t r 1 r v vel Jt Y H s Aa el F FH tm 4 to J M H i JI f t II fW J t 4 tl d lJ J f r 11 it at f j t c 7 J i yAa F ar 7 X R Rt Rw Rt t 1 3 t w r f X 1 71 jl f 1 y t 1 J I r 0 fl 11 k f f y I l lt W jH r t t fi p t tf y kH i Ii S 'S W y i Uil t 4 I f J I S 11 t a lW L tili t t hii 3 iJ Z if y t v iti f fy y r 4 r f t V I 4 1 l X 11 iS y I y J f 1 tr r x t JOI J A iY 3 t tb b lr il k kv J g x a r n 3 2 syb l i 4 xa 2 j wi b gt wa it 2 i rJ r 5 i v fV n 1 y l ft V r with Ith palm fiber so SG that the alternating shapes and 2nd the different colors of af the tha bark form farm a fascinating design The ef- ef effect effect ef effect is 15 something like that Behle achieved cd in II inthe inthe the patch olk quilts and rag rugs of af o lour aur grandmothers grandmother's day only anly a thou thou- thousand thousand sand times more mare ingenious and beautiful The cloth is made in iq strips but butas butas butas as the pieces composing it measure not nat more than a half halt inch in length and breadth the amount of laD labor or ed to tG produce even a yard of it is almost be beyond and c comprehension One might think this was the reason why hy the Bantus wear sear so sa few clothes were It not not for far the tho fact that the they pro pI pio-duco pio a- a duce immense quantities of af the cloth WhIle they are content to ta wind only a narrow strip or t two 0 mound around theIr bodIes they use a great many mal more rooie e to ta toline toline line the walls alls of af their huts huh and for other ather purposes For Far e eel c el wear the Dan Bantus lus use a cloth woven oven on an primitive e looms out of af he he strands of af skin cut from the central midrib of raffia palm leaves Young leaves are used and the skin kin of the mid mid- midrib mid nud midrib rib lib is cut in in very ery thin strands the SlIme same material being used for foi both Loth web Hb and warp The fhe preliminary wal work l is 15 done dono b by bo boys s and the weaving itself by the themen themen themen men After the cloth is woven 13 en it IS made soft and flexible by soaking in water and pounding in a wooden trough Many different kinds hinds of raffia cloth me lle produced Some Same of af them are em em- em em as th they are woven waven by skip skip- skipping skipping ping threads in the wasp alp and others are embroidered by rand hand The finest specimens specimens of raffia cloth that have yet reached the civIlized world arld ale aie marvelously velvet like in texture and adorned with Itil over all pat pat- patterns patterns pat patterns terns in colors The foundation Is plain raffia cloth only wa woven en a little more loosely and with the thc embroidery thread rendered soft as silk sIll by long lang rubbing with the hand The fhe thread is 15 d dyed ed black red or ar yellow ellow or ar sometimes bleached TIe The cloth itself is 18 usually red The 1 red cd d dc e comes carnes from fram the wood snood oad of af the tree the black from flom charcoal and the yellow from fram the wood of af the boa A mineral substance IS 13 used sed for far the bleaching The embroidery thread is passed b by of the means of af a needle over aver one ane threads of the warp scarp and returned wIthout showing on an the opposite side Elde to form farm a little loop laap extending to ta the height of about one twelfth of af an inch The thread of this loop laap is later cut with witha n a small knife The ape operation ration is 15 con can continued continued until the design e executed en- en entirely en entirely from flom memory and wIth without aut a pattern being drawn n on the cloth IS complete No Ka woman aman who ho has ever worked with the needle needs to be hId hat what o 0 clong long lang painstaking and difficult ta task l It must be to ta embroider even a small puce ce of af cloth in un this Wol way And of af course the Bantus have only anly the most mast primi primitive the tive of af sewing implements to work stork with ith The textile manufacturers ha have rase 13 dis- dis discovered dis discovered covered that the beautiful embroideries which the negro negra sa savages ages produce so slowly sla and painfully can be swiftly and qUIte inexpensively l el turned out aut on the great power driven looms Among the charming made American-made imitations of af Congo Canga raffia cloth now on an exhibition at atthe atthe atthe the Brooklyn Museum mea me two a sport spart dresses dresse One is of af cocoa color calor linen Imen With an over aver pattern of af white em- em embroidery em embroidery in a most mast unusual design The Theother Theother Theother other is of af white linen lanen embroidered w It nth 11 u a geometrical design in III canary yellow and another contrasting d design in AU All the Bantu embroidery designs ate ale rI J y aw ns r 1 Two of the thet e t f African AUlca n fetish d fl l images i Y 5 Y 1 it t 1 t 14 1 e N NY sl f d characteristic of all these primi which is the curious geometrical In the dress shown above note tive African fabrics But the colors in which the different embroideries are done are so pleasingly con con- contrasted that the regularity of the patterns never gross monotonous c L b a aY Y f fr fo t- t r tA A o t H Hr r r T d 1 Y td Y I I It t ads Another of Mrs Culins Culin's paintings of a Congo fetish is al- al aIa always geometrIcal but their regularity ways a pleasing and newer neer ne er monotonous As Professor Stewart Culm who ha gath- gath gathered gathered ered the collection noW on an exhibition In Brooklyn Brookh n points out the finished effect the contrasting col of af the designs and s has a ous animation not to ta be found in the desIgns of af any hIghly people The colors used are arc chiefly the exotic hues of af the tropical Jungle Jungle- vallOUS Shades hades of af green Sienna earth dull gray 1 red cd yellow ellow and the thc sky's dazzling white Nobody wIll complain at theIr lack of af variety after fter seem seeing I- I 0 how bow brilliant they are arc and how effectively ll ely they are contrasted Some enthusiastic admirers ers of af tillS this the alt ait think that c negro school of painting and sculpture sculpture ture turc owes awes its tl O to the inspiration It 1 cd from fram the phantom peopled phantom Jungle bungle world arId Picasso Matisse and other famous cubists have admitted being deeply influenced by the specimens mens mem of af African sculpture with Ith which they became acquainted some fifteen or ar twentY years scars ago aga The more marc we study these savages nn- nn un unsophisticated sophisticated interpretations of Nature say their admirers the better will our aur auran own n art become became They declare that It itis itis is precisely because these African natives al are aie e so sa like child in their intelli intelli- intelligence intelligence gence that they ale aie able to take the themo mo most t direct route to those great essen essen- essentials essentials with Ith which art is cane concerned ern cd The savage it is maintained sees Nature Just gust as she is while our aur highly trained artists see seo her only anly as they think she ought aught to ta be Sociologists think they have hase ha e discovered ered a very scry cry interesting mt and perhaps un nn- nn nn fact in m the cia close be resemblance be- be between be between l tween leen een the geometrical outlines the tho African can i- i ican can savage draws and those thase which the normal American child 10 loves loses es to ta carne ear eare e on an his Ills desk scrawl I in his 1113 school schoolbooks schoolbooks books baas or out of af pieces of af wood oad The that causes the white chIld to ta claw draw ds Is squares and tn- tn tn-anglea tn angles anglea is believed cd to bo be exactly the same sama t that Jt Urges tho the Congo Conga blacks blicks to ta decorato their clothing and everything else m in insight insight sIght with the tame same geometrical figures The mg Cla for far making these forms farms per per- perSiStS persists persists with the savage as long as ho lie h hes es but is confined to tG only a II brief period ot of out childrens children's lives lases 11 es Some Same authorities think that to ta find what is truest and best in al alt ait t we wc must look to ta the instinctive 0 ts of af young aung children and of af ravages whose minds al me meon e eon on a par with Ith them them The Tho explanation eJ of the negros negro's capacIty for far artistic expression is doubtless ss to tG be found not nat only anly in Ills his simplicity but v ii 1 his Ills superstitious loub beliefs Troubled by the mysteries of life lie ho accepts without hesitatIOn the tho witch Itch doctors doctor's of af all sort sorts of events His development of the art of af sculpture ture turo is cis a direct result of af his firl i belief In devils ghosts and e evil eul II spurts To protect himself from flam them he fashions CUriOUS little wooden images called N fetishes If he has bad luck luel lie he es nails into one ane of af these images and fills holes in its head and with it ovel incantations have been said ald Ii Mrs Mis s Stewart Culm has his painted punted and andis andis is now exhibiting at the Brooklyn Mu- Mu Museum Mu Museum Iu- Iu seum scum a most interesting series senes of af paint paintings paintings ings dealing with th these fetishes and the st-pel st superstitious fears real with Ith which the credulous credulous credulous lous natives es sun surround them Whatever el the effect of af these sa ages on the tiro higher arts may be their influence on such things as women's wamen's fashions and home hame decoration is 18 no guesswork The dressmaker are taking up the African idea with enthusiasm sm At the Brooklyn n Museum one ane of af them shows a f number of af attractive c gO gowns nb in Inch the Congo Conga bark barl cloth has been cleverly Imitated by copying the designs on strips of af the same width and combining them with nth colored hemstitching i iOne One of af these gO gowns gOns ns bears an all elaborate elaborate clabo- clabo rate rate design copied from flam cloth made inthe in m Ithe the jungle for far the state robes lobes of af the tho Bing of af Dahomey Others ha have Ease e allover all all- over all 13 over er designs taken from cloth mats such as can be found faund on an the dirt floors of af the nat native e huts all through the Congo Cango 1 Fashionable women wamen are generally de- de delighted delighted de delighted lighted with Ith the simple but not nat at all monotonous designs shown on an these and other ather gowns ns that go to darkest Africa fo fa their The |