Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

A fat plaited ribbon runs down the middle of a field of tiny triangles.

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. Down the center runs a broad band of cream interlace knots on a black ground the full length, bordered on both sides by fine rows of tiny black and cream triangles. The scale is very small. A brown edge frames the cloth. The panel is 18 inches wide by 40 long.

One bold braid, surrounded by thousands of tiny triangles minding their own business.