Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

A pale meander field with a dark knot of S-curves sitting in the center.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Shoowa embroiderers generally work in geometric designs, and the patterns are often said to be composed as the stitching goes. Cream meander lines edged in black, with black triangles along the borders, surround a central rectangle of interlocking S shapes. Black triangles run in tidy rows at the top and bottom. A small hole sits near the top right. The panel is 20.5 inches wide by 24.5 long.

A quiet frame around a very busy little secret.