beaded neck ring

beaded neck ring, late 1900s–1982

Where object was made: Transvaal Province, Union of South Africa (present-day Mpumalanga province, South Africa)

Material/technique: plant fiber; beads; string

Dimensions:
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 3 x 28 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 1 3/16 x 11 1/2 in

Credit line: Gift of Reinhild Janzen

Accession number: 2007.3367

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"For Life's Sake: Arts from Africa," Oct-1983, Reinhild Kauenhoven Janzen
Typical of Ndebele women's body ornaments are the beaded rings worn arond the neck, and also around arms, legs and waist. These are made by fashioning a thick coil of dried grasses into a circlet. Over this, long strands of beads of one solid color are wound spirally. The finished ring is thick, heavy, rigid. Often two or three such rings are worn together.