Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Six octagonal medallions of nested squares, set in a dark tan grid.

This Shoowa prestige panel is Kuba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is piled raffia. Kuba textiles were woven and embroidered to be worn, gifted and buried with the dead, long before collectors hung them on walls. Octagonal medallions of concentric squares in cream and black sit in two rows of three, with a zigzag band along the top. Black ground shows at the edges and a few small holes of dark pile show at left. The border is hemmed in brown. It is 19.5 inches across and 21 long.

A target range with very good manners.