Ceremonial beaded blankets have replaced the Ndebele's beaded leather capes. Once imported, the blankets are now manufactured in South Africa and, despite the variety of patterns available, the Ndebele choose only striped or red-patterned blankets for beading. The beadwork strips, made with imported glass beads, vary in width and number. Additional strips are added for special occasions and, when the blanket wears out, the beaded strips are transferred to another blanket, as was probably the case with this example.
In the late 1800s white was the dominant bead color, but by the mid-20th century multicolored beads in geometric bands and stylized house patterns were balancing the white. By the 1970s the Ndebele showed an increasing preference for darker colors--blue, green, purple and black--and larger beads.
[Neckrings see 2000-27-1]
Description:
Wool blanket with maroon, yellow, blue, red and green stripes. A white beaded blanket strip is attached at each end of the blanket and four sections of mulit-colored geometric motifs are on each blanket strip. The strip is edged with multi-color openwork fringe. Each strip appears to be assembled from three seperate pieces of beading.
Provenance:
Norman and Susan Priebatsch, collected Loskop Dam area, -- to 1977
Chaim and Renee Gross, New York, 1978 to 1983
Exhibition History:
TxtStyles: Fashioning Identity, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 11-December 7, 2008
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