2-735-737 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Neck Ornament, 1800s-1900s. Typically such an ornament was worn by a woman in conjunction with other beadwork in complementary colour schemes. In addition to making her own beadwork, however, a woman would also produce her husband’s beadwork and, before marriage, the beadwork worn by the young man courting her. Before the introduction of glass beads by European traders, southern African communities acquired beads of Indian manufacture from Arab traders.