Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Patchwork of maze lines and black diamonds, with inset rectangles breaking the 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. The Kuba are known for raffia textiles in which a few simple elements are repeated and varied until the surface seems to move. Fine maze lines and black lozenges cover the cloth, but several rectangular insets in different scales are patched into the field. Lower right shows a brown triangle section. Seams are visible, and the border is narrow tan. The panel is 22 inches wide by 24 long.

Mended with mismatched pieces and pleased with the result.