Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Tall and narrow, dark on top and checkered below, joined at a clean seam.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Shoowa embroiderers generally work in geometric designs, and the patterns are often said to be composed as the stitching goes. Long and narrow, in two stacked sections. The upper half has black hooked diamonds on a tan ground, while the lower half switches to fine dotted lattices with touches of gold. A horizontal seam splits them and the overall tone is dark. It is 23 inches across and 46 long.

A tall order, handled by two quite different tempers.