Beaded Cape
Original Language TitleIsibheklane
CultureNgwane peoples
Date20th century
MediumCotton and beads
DimensionsOverall: 41 1/2 × 35 1/4 inches (105.41 × 89.54 cm)
Mount: 43 1/2 × 37 3/4 inches (110.49 × 95.89 cm)
Mount: 43 1/2 × 37 3/4 inches (110.49 × 95.89 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: the Esther Clark Garnett Fund
Object numberF97-22/2
On View
On viewGallery Location
- L9
Collections
DescriptionThe object is a fabric cape made of 13 partially overlapping layers of various colored cloth with a geometric, multi-colored beaded strip along the edge of each layer.Gallery LabelThis richly beaded cape, composed of 13 cloth panels edged with narrow bands of beadwork, is the prestigious ceremonial dress of a married Zulu woman. In the 19th century, local beads of wood, shell, seeds and brass were gradually replaced by imported European glass beads, such as those used on this cape. This change in material stimulated the growth and elaboration of Zulu women's beaded arts. Styles developed as expressions of regional identities, while beadwork also conveyed age, gender, marital status and social position. Today, the colors, patterns and symbolism of Zulu beadwork continue to evolve.
Private collection, Johannesburg, South Africa, by 1988;
Purchased from the unknown private collection by Jerome L. Stern (1924-2017), New York, NY, 1988-1997 [1] ;
[1] According to Michael Oliver, in an email to MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, September 30, 2021, NAMA curatorial files. The identity of the collection is currently unknown.
Newsletter (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Winter 1998), 2, (repro.).
Joyce M. Youmans, “African Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,” African Arts 33, no. 4 (Winter 2000), 49, 57, 59 (repro.).
Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 248, (repro.).
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