Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

A crowd of zigzags, hooks and small squares, fringed and thoroughly patchworked.

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. Many small sections of fine zigzag lines, nested hooks and sparse black squares are sewn together, with darker spots at upper left. A brown border and a short tan fringe surround the cloth, and the seams between sections are numerous. It measures 20.5 inches wide and 21 long.

Every scrap had a different idea, and each one got heard.