Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Staggered black diamonds in a lattice, bracketed by rows of tiny diamonds top and bottom.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Among the Kuba, raffia cloth long carried questions of rank, and panels like this were generally worn as skirts or given at ceremonies and funerals. Diamonds in black and brown, in outlined cells, are staggered across a tan ground in an all-over lattice. Narrow bands of tiny diamonds close the top and bottom. A faint seam runs across the lower third and the hem is straightforward. It measures 20.5 inches wide and 22 long.

Neat as a hotel carpet and a lot more charming.