Beaded Blanket (Irari)

This beaded blanket was made and worn by an Ndebele woman of South Africa. Since the late nineteenth century, when tiny glass seed beads from Europe became available through trade, Ndzundza Ndebele women have beaded bold geometric designs onto clothing. This art form emerged after the Ndebele nation was physically dispersed by conquering immigrant European farmers. Not only did women stitch bold eye-catching designs onto clothing, but they also painted them onto the exterior walls of homesteads. Through art, the scattered Ndebele nation retained its identity.

In the early twentieth century beadwork designs were dominated by a white color field and included only a few randomly placed geometric designs rendered in black or dark blue. After the 1940s Ndebele aesthetics changed. As more colors became available on the market, women began to include a wide range of colors and filled the composition with geometric and figurative motifs. For example, this irari features letters (derived from motor vehicle number plates) and schematic representations of telephone poles and houses.

Irari beaded blankets are made exclusively by married women, who wear them as capes on festive occasions. In addition to representing social status, such heavily beaded capes attest to the wearer's artistic abilities, considerable financial resources, and high social standing, given her ability to dedicate numerous hours to creating artwork.