Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

A diamond-filled center set in a frame of herringbone stripes.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Kuba textiles were woven and embroidered to be worn, gifted and buried with the dead, long before collectors hung them on walls. Central rectangle of black and tan diamonds and small triangles sits inside concentric borders of fine zigzag and herringbone lines. The frame effect is strong and the tone is a soft brown-tan overall. The edges are straight and cleanly hemmed. The panel is 19.5 inches wide by 20.5 long.

A picture frame woven right into the picture.