Zulu Woman

Zulu by South African Artist and author Dr Barbara Eleanor Harcourt Tyrrell (1912-2015) . Tyrrell comments on the changes in headgear in 'modern' KwaZulu Natal in the 1980s. In the work the Zulu matron wears a headrest that was developed over time for the convenience of taxi and bus travel. The painting, one of a series of 59 in the collection were done by Tyrrell for her book African Heritage in 1983.Tyrrell, along with being an artist was a lifelong scholar in studying African rituals and clothing of the people of South Africa also wrote several books on the subject. The University of Pretoria bought the collection from Tyrrell in 1988. Tyrrell is known internationally for her detailed costume studies of the traditional dress of the indigenous peoples of southern Africa. Tyrrell was born on 15 March 1912 in Durban, South Africa. Her father, who died while she was a small child, had occupied the post of assistant magistrate and later interpreter in the Department of Native Affairs and had been stationed in various Natal towns, his final posting being to Eshowe, Zululand. Tyrrell's grandfather was Frederick Fynney, interpreter and companion to the Zulu king Cetshwayo during the latter's visit to Queen Victoria in 1882. Tyrrell trained as an artist at the former University of Natal during the 1930's, when the fine arts department was still linked with that of the former Technical College. Tyrrell was 103 years old when she passed away in 2015.