Visualizing Mixed Media within Open Access Repositories · Ceremonial beadwork for a Xhosa royal woman: headdress (umnqwazi), pendant, breast cover (incebetha), pair of anklets (izitsaba)

Ceremonial beadwork for a Xhosa royal woman: headdress (umnqwazi), pendant, breast cover (incebetha), pair of anklets (izitsaba)

Title: Ceremonial beadwork for a Xhosa royal woman: headdress (umnqwazi), pendant, breast cover (incebetha), pair of anklets (izitsaba)
Description: Elite Xhosa women once wore beaded garments like this on festive occasions. Made almost completely from imported Venetian or Bohemian glass beads, they were overt status symbols. Imported beads functioned as money for the Xhosa between about 1770 and 1829. These garments’ female maker carefully selected beads of the highest quality, uniform in color, shape, and size. Made in the same shape as the pendant, a swallowtail-shaped apron (CMA 2010.206) worn under the skirt completed the ensemble.
Creator: Unknown female Xhosa-style maker
Date Created: 1800s
Multiple mediums: Glass beads, sinew, hide, ceramic; sinew (material); hide and skin processing; ceramics (object genre)
Who owns the work, where it's held: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Contains "mixed media" as identifier in open access repository: yes
place of creation: Southeast Cape Region South Africa; South Africa
Open access repository information: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.49

Item sets: Visualizing Mixed Media Materials within Open Access Repositories

Media: Ceremonial beadwork for a Xhosa royal woman: headdress (umnqwazi), pendant, breast cover (incebetha), pair of anklets (izitsaba)