Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

A generous diamond lattice with a fringe that looks fresh from the barber.

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. Crossing black diagonal lines make a large open lattice of cream diamonds, a few with small inner outlines. Wispy fringe runs along the top and bottom edges, and the border cloth has a pinkish brown tone. It measures 18.5 inches wide and 22 long.

Big diamonds, thin lines, and a haircut at both ends.