Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Bold black lattice above, zigzag stripes below, one seam keeping the peace.

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. The upper two thirds shows a wide black diagonal lattice on a pale tan ground, quite large in scale. A sharp line divides it from a lower band of black zigzag stripes. A small crack is visible near the top edge. It is 19 inches across and 22.5 long.

Two moods, divided by a single confident line.