Kuba Shoowa Prestige Panel

She worked from memory, and improvised as she went.

Among the Shoowa, men wove the raffia ground cloth and women embroidered it in cut pile, and finished panels were treasured as wealth and exchanged on important occasions. The Kuba peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo made this one in the 20th century.

About two feet square, it is filled with a lattice of nested diamonds, outlined in fine dark brown lines and set with solid dark centers, on a natural straw-colored ground. Small variations break the repeat. A narrow bound edge frames it.

The mistakes are the best part.