Shoowa Fiber Square

The Shoowa, a northern Zaire sub group of the Kuba people, decorate their ceremonial skirts with cut pile details. They also produce a large number of small squares similarly decorated and used as chair and floor coverings, shrouds, dowry payments and as symbols of wealth and status.In this, a fairly recent yet very decorative example,the cut pile technique is executed in triangular shapes which are interspersed with small circles sewn in buttonhole stitch.