Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

Men wove the base. Women brought it to life, stitch by velvet stitch.

That is how Kuba raffia panels came to be, and this Shoowa panel, made in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 20th century, was worked in embroidery and cut pile. Such panels were exchanged as gifts, used in ceremony and kept as stores of wealth.

Nearly square, about nineteen and a half inches, it is divided into irregular zones: columns of black hexagons and stacked diamonds on either side, a central lattice of cream diamonds with black centers. Black, tan, rust and cream, framed by a plain woven border, with gentle wear at the lower edge.

Order, with room for improvisation.