A Figural Mat

The Kongo people used mats as both floor and wall coverings. They had a tradition of highly stylised zoomorphic mats showing a large central birds and other local animals. With the influx of colonials in the 19th and early 20th centuries their design repertoire broadened to include new images appropriated from European culture. Here figures are shown driving what are either cars or trucks and a group of avians which appear to be guinea fowl.