Beaded fiber circulet. White beads with spaced multi-colored motifs.
Provenance:
Unknown Ndebele beadmaker [1], Loskop Dam area, South Africa; purchased [2] by Suzanne Priebatsch and Norman Priebatsch, Johannesburg, South Africa, between 1974 and 1978; sold through the Jim Camp Gallery, New York, to Chaim Gross (1902-1991) and Renée Gross (1909-2005), New York, 1977 [3]; on loan to the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), 1978-1979; donated to the National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., 1983.
[1] It is likely that this piece was created by a female beadmaker. Photographs taken by Constance Stuart Larrabee (Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archive EEPA.1998-006) demonstrate that beadwork was and is a cherished activity of Ndebele women, occasionally assisted by their children.
[2] See: Sandra Klopper, “South Africa’s Culture of Collecting: The Unofficial History.” African Arts 37, no. 4 (2004): 22.
[3] Correspondence from Suzanne Priebatsch, July 18, 2025.
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