Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Black diamonds float on a mossy olive ground, trimmed with a thin fringe.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Shoowa embroiderers generally work in geometric designs, and the patterns are often said to be composed as the stitching goes. Diamonds and small hooked blocks in black form a dense all-over field on a dark olive-tan ground with cream accents. A short frayed fringe lines the top and bottom, and the lower edge is notched and uneven. It measures 20.5 inches wide and 23 long.

A dark horse of a palette, quietly dazzling.