An attractive and popular pattern often develops many variations. The leopard pattern is depicted in different ways in different parts of Africa but can also have several different expressions within the same region. Sometimes they're round spots, sometimes they're triangles, rosettes or rhomboids. When a pattern becomes stylized and, through trade or migration, travels over large geographical areas, the original meaning can vanish. Are these objects from Central Africa examples of a leopard pattern? In Nigeria triangles - like those on the basket – symbolize leopard spots, and in Congo triangles occur alongside other symbols for the leopard in art.
We don't know if these beautiful fabrics from the Kuba people can be linked to the leopard. But we know that common patterns on other Kuba textiles have names like "The Leopard's Spots" and "The Leopard on the Prowl in the Tree". Even the rosettes on the trunk, from the area around the lower Congo River, can symbolise the leopard's footprints. The four triangles of each rosette represent the leopard's four "strong" claws.