Items and Material: Hand-beaded tobacco bag, carved wooden pipes
and a hand-beaded neck piece
Description: These individual Xhosa items - all created prior to the
1950's - are from the African Heritage Trust Collection. Among the
Xhosa, the amount and type of beaded regalia alters throughout
one’s life stages - adolecence, puberty, adulthood, marriage, etc..
Xhosa women use beadwork to express personal feelings, hopes
and concerns, while men use beadwork to create a positive public
image.
Both Xhosa men and women use pipes, such as the one shown in
the image above. Older men typically carry short-stemmed pipes
and young men carry slim, medium-length pipes. Older women
can smoke pipes extending up to 11-12 inches in length.
Mounted on a red canvas-backing, these items create a wonderful
montage full of history and culture.
Canvas Dimensions: 21 1/2" height x 21 1/2" width x 2" depth
