Cleveland Museum of Art

Under apron (iinkciya)

Date

1800s–1900s

Medium

Leather, glass beads, and sinew

Culture

Africa, Southern Africa, South Africa, Xhosa-style (South Nguni) maker

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This is an exquisite example of a rare type of swallowtail-shaped apron worn by young female initiates until the mid-19th century. On the upper portion, the black beads were applied in such a way that they can be read as a human face or even as a full figure. In fact, the overall form of the apron can be viewed as representing the lower torso and legs of a woman with a neatly marked pubic region. Women made beaded "aprons" like this to wear under their clothes on festive occasions in the nineteenth century; expensive imported beads were a sign of wealth and status.

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