Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Chevrons point up and down through pale diamonds, with a few red ones for spice.

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. On a cream ground, small black and tan chevrons point in alternating directions, with diamonds in rust and brown scattered among them. The cloth is tall and narrow with a faint horizontal seam near the middle and a plain tan edge. The panel is 17 inches wide by 32.5 long.

Arrows everywhere, and no particular place to go.