Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Black and coral stripes tear apart on the left, while diamonds hold steady at right.

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. The left two thirds is black and coral vertical bands with broken, stepped edges where the pattern seems to unravel. At right sits a block of orange-tan diamonds in black outlines. A deep brown border frames the cloth and the surface looks worn. It is 23 inches across and 26 long.

A pattern in the middle of changing its mind.