Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Big black diamonds lock arms with tan ones in a bold interlocking 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. Among the Kuba, raffia cloth long carried questions of rank, and panels like this were generally worn as skirts or given at ceremonies and funerals. Bold black and tan diamonds, several with a small hooked square inside, tumble across the field at a large scale. A tan outline links them in a diagonal lattice, and a dusty pink border frames the edges. The panel is 18.5 inches wide by 19 long.

Confident, chunky and not remotely interested in subtlety.