Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Bands of tiny diamonds sandwiched between big ones, in neat horizontal stripes.

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. Horizontal bands alternate large black diamonds at top and bottom with tiny diamonds and dots in the middle rows, all on a warm tan ground. The edge is hemmed and the scale shifts clearly between bands, which sets it apart from the single-scale grids. It measures 20.5 inches wide and 29 long.

Big diamonds frame the small ones like attentive parents.