Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Stripes of zigzag, chain diamonds and lozenges, shifting from pale to dark.

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. Vertical sections run left to right, from cream zigzags through black and brown diamond chains to pale lattice at right. A fringe surrounds the edges and the lower left corner is notched. The tonal sweep from light to dark is its main feature. It is 20.5 inches across and 25.5 long.

A slow fade of pattern ideas, left to right.