blanket
- Museum number
- 2015,2011.1
- Description
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Ndebele beaded blanket (Nguba). Dyed base cloth with rows of glass beads in geometric designs sewn onto one surface.
- Production date
- 1950 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 107 centimetres
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Width: 148 centimetres
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Depth: 3 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Information provided upon acquisition by vendor:
The blanket was collected in the field by Natalie Knight and Suzanne Priebatsch in 1977. They were advised by the owner that the blanket was at least 30 years old. Estimated date c. 1947. The white strip of beads at the bottom left is far older but the two strips at the sides were added in the mid-1970s to 'modernise’ the piece. It was the custom to add strips. Research by Natalie Knight and Suzanne Priebatsch suggests the blue and black beads were used in preference to the white beads, after the mid-1970s.
The overall effect is a rare combination of designs, forming a compendium of lettering, abstract patterns and colourful homesteads.
This blanket formed part of a lecture which Natalie Knight gave at the Israel Museum in 1979. The piece was on loan to the Israel Museum for several years thereafter.
According to Suzanne Priebatsch, the design on the blanket is a good example of lettering used on Ndebele blankets and the light bulbs which animate the diagonals at various places. The image on the bottom of the blanket is reminiscent of a church decoration.
In: Giblin, J., & Spring, C., 2016, ‘South Africa: the art of a nation’. London, Thames and Hudson, pp 173-179
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2016-2017 27 Oct-26 Feb, London, BM, G35, South Africa: the art of a nation
2018 28 Mar – 2019 31 Mar, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Object Journeys Fashioning Africa
- Condition
- Fair. Some of the beadwork the strings are damaged, some splits, and local repairs in place.
- Acquisition date
- 2015
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- 2015,2011.1