Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

On a pale straw ground, interlocking angular meanders run in fine dark lines, punctuated by small black diamonds. Then, down the center, the embroiderer breaks it all.

A column of chevrons, zigzags and bold black blocks interrupts the pattern, a characteristic Kuba play on expectation. This Shoowa prestige panel was made by the Kuba peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 20th century. Men wove the base cloth, women embroidered it, and the panels were valued as prestige goods, gifts and a form of wealth. A natural raffia border frames it, about twenty-one by twenty-two inches.

Break the rule on purpose. That is the whole point.