Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Vertical strips with black triangles, each strip a separate argument about angles.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Cut-pile raffia of this kind is usually attributed to the Shoowa, a Kuba people of the Kasai region, and was traditionally made by women. Pale cream strips divided by black outlines run vertically, each filled with a different zigzag and scattered black triangles or diamonds. The scale is mid-sized and open. A thin pink border cloth shows at the edges. The panel is 19 inches wide by 19.75 long.

Seven columns, seven triangles' worth of opinions.