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Necklace (amazipho)
1800s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
When wild game was still plentiful in the region, real animal claws would have been used to punctuate beaded prestige necklaces. Lion-claw necklaces were the exclusive property of royalty while the bone imitations were owned and worn by high-ranking individuals of lesser status. Large red glass beads were also reserved for the Nguni elite in the period before the destruction of the Zulu kingdom in 1879.
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Details
- Title: Necklace (amazipho)
- Date Created: 1800s
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 38.1 cm (15 in.)
- Provenance: Nelly Van den Abbeele, Brussels; Christie's, Paris, 2003; Axis Gallery, New York, 2003 to 2005
- Type: Jewelry
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.231
- Medium: Glass beads, bone, and sinew
- Fun Fact: Large red glass beads like the ones in this necklace were reserved for the Nguni elite.
- Department: African Art
- Culture: Africa, Southern Africa, South Africa, Southeast Cape Region, Northern Nguni (Zulu)-style maker
- Credit Line: Gift of Dori and Daniel Rootenberg in memory of Estelle Rosenberg
- Collection: African Art
- Accession Number: 2010.231
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