Kuba Raffia Shoowa Cloth

Checkerboard borders frame a dense, brown field of interlace, like a picture mat.

This Shoowa cloth is Kuba, from Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is raffia. Kuba textiles were woven and embroidered to be worn, gifted and buried with the dead, long before collectors hung them on walls. A black and tan checkerboard border runs around a low, wide cloth. Inside, a brown field of fine plaited interlace is divided into two sections with a central seam. The checks are bold, and the interlace is very fine. The panel is 20 inches wide by 46 long.

A checkerboard frame, with something much busier going on inside.