Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

A narrow strip of tiny checks and a vertical spine of tiny crosses.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Cut-pile raffia of this kind is usually attributed to the Shoowa, a Kuba people of the Kasai region, and was traditionally made by women. Very fine black and cream checker and interlace motifs run in columns down a tall, narrow cloth. A central column of small stacked shapes forms an axis, and a thin pink border outlines the edge. The scale is tiny. It measures 20 inches wide and 39.75 long.

Miniature work, with a spine of pure fussiness.