Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Pale meander lines with black triangles form a mirrored, rooftop sort of pattern.

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 cloths come from the Kuba kingdom in the Kasai region, where men traditionally wove the raffia ground and women embroidered it. Cream meander and chevron lines outlined in black create mirrored shapes pointing up and down, with small black triangles and diamonds as accents. The ground is pale and the contrast soft. A narrow pinkish brown border edges the cloth. The panel is 22 inches wide by 24 long.

Mirrored maze corridors, drawn by someone who never lost the thread.