Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Concentric diamonds and rectangles in fine hatching, scattered all over like a weaving doodle.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Kuba cloth begins with the fibers of the raffia palm, and the embroidery that covers it is slow, patient work. Nested diamonds and small squares in gray and cream hatching fill the cloth in tight diagonal rows, with some rectangles set at odd angles. The ground is pale and the lines are delicate. Edges are hemmed in tan. It measures 21 inches wide and 23 long.

Patient little outlines inside outlines, and not a hurry anywhere.