Ceremonial panel

The Shoowa people are a small population on the northwestern fringe of the Bushoong kingdom. In spite of maintaining a different language and loose political ties, the Shoowa share many cultural practices with the peoples of the Bushoong kingdom. The ancient cloth is composed of two pieces joined across the center; and bordered by pompoms, a technique reported for textiles on the Kongo coast in the seventeenth century. The basic weave is typical for Shoowa with close warps and weft of similar thickness and even distribution. The designs are shaped by two embroidery techniques: lines of stem stitching and cut-pile. To create the plush effect, an embroiderer twists a strand of raffia into an iron needle which she inserts between the warp and weft, leaving a short tuft. After pulling the fiber strand through to about two milimeters in height, she cuts it with a narrow knife held vertically in the same hand and brushes both ends.