Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

A wide meander field with one small knotted rectangle set in like a postage stamp.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. The pile on a Shoowa cloth is cut raffia, sheared to an even nap that collectors often call Kasai velvet. Fine black and tan meander lines with small diamonds fill a landscape-format cloth edge to edge. A distinct rectangular knot motif sits in the middle, outlined as a separate inset. The light straw ground and fine scale are consistent across the cloth. It is 19.5 inches across and 30 long.

A tiny signature stamped dead center, in case anyone doubted.