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From: "Rex Farmer" <>
Subject: Re: [ZA] Traditional African Beadwork
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 12:39:20 -0000
References: <018401c2ca9b$2bb32ea0$74a6ef9b@telkomsa2156telkomsa.net>


Becky
I find this very interesting.
Thanks
Michele Farmer, England
----- Original Message -----
From: "Becky Horne" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 9:10 AM
Subject: [ZA] Traditional African Beadwork


> It is generally assumed that African beadwork in regions south of the
Sahara
> has its origins in the comparatively recent past when the colonisation of
> Africa opened up the Dark Continent to traders from Portugal, the
> Netherlands and England. Further south, in what is now KwaZulu-Natal and
the
> Eastern Province of South Africa, the trade in beads is supposed to have
had
> an even more recent origin. Henry Francis Fynn, who came to Port Natal
(now
> Durban) as a trader in 1824, was possibly the first Englishman to have
> offered glass beads as standard merchandise to the North Nguni, best known
> of which was the Zulu, whose colourful beadwork is unique because of it's
> singular eloquence in the way messages dealing with male-female
> relationships were traditionally woven into it's design.
> Even further to the south in what is the Transkei region of the Eastern
> Province, the South Nguni - of whom the Xhosas, Pondo and Thembu are
> well-known sections - have had close contact with the British ever since
the
> first settlers arrived in Delagoa Bay ( now Port Elizabeth) in 1820.
> Obviously, glass beads were common commodities offered by those early
> traders to Africans of the region whose beadwork, different in some
respects
> from that of the Zulu, are in many ways as spectacular as the Zulu
product.
> The beadwork tradition did not, however, begin with the traders of the
early
> nineteenth century. The market for glass beads already existed in
> KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Province. Fynn at Port Natal and British
> traders operating from Delagoa Bay merely supplied it, meeting a need for
a
> commodity that had been well known to their customers long before they
> arrived in what is now KwaZulu-Natal and the Transkei.
> Glass beads appear to have been a by-product of the discovery of glass,
said
> to have occurred in Egypt during the rule of the pharaohs as well as
amongst
> the Chaldeans and Sumerians some 30 centuries ago. The Egyptians,
favourably
> placed to trade with Africa to the south, were probably the first to
peddle
> for gold, ivory and slaves. The Egyptians, who knew and valued precious
> stones, might well have assumed that the less sophisticated African to the
> south could be misled to believe that the beads, too, were gems of
singular
> value.
> The Egyptian glass beads, as well those from other sources with access to
> the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, were transported by Phoenicians, a
> seafaring nation known to have circumnavigated the Cape long before the
> Portuguese led by Dias and Da Gama. From the Nile Delta in the far eastern
> Mediterranean to Carthage and on to the Straits of Gibraltar these
> Phoenician mariners carried cargoes of glass beads in addition to other
> merchandise, shipping them to every port along the North African coast and
> the ancient Negro kingdoms of West and Central Africa.
> With the passage of time, the Arabs succeeded the Phoenicians as traders
and
> continued to supply beads to Africans along the East Coast and India,
having
> in the meantime become a supplier of this commodity. To this day, red
> cornelian beads of Indian origin are washed out on the Transkeian shores
> from ancient Arab vessels that fell victim to storms and sank. From the
> North African coast on the Mediterranean, camel caravans criss-crossed the
> Saharan desert to trade with the African kingdoms south of the Sahara.
> The Arab traders were ousted by the Portuguese in the fifteenth and
> sixteenth centuries, and these in turn were succeeded by the Dutch and the
> British.
> Glass beads were valued in Africa, not because Africans were duped into
> believing them to be precious stones, but because they were the products
of
> an exotic technology, of which the equivalent was unknown in Africa at
that
> time. Beads, therefore, became precious in their own right end were soon
> linked to whatever was valued in the cultures of the people who owned and
> crafted them into a variety of objects to be worn according to custom, as
> token of social status, political importance and for personal adornment.
> The West African kings of Ghana, Songhai, Mali and Nigeria are known to
have
> worn beaded regalia so heavy that they had to be supported by attendants
> when rising from their thrones to move about in the course of their
duties.
> In the Cameroon, beaded patterns and colours are remarkably similar to
those
> found amongst the Zulu of KwaZulu-Natal covered the regalia and badges of
> office used by Cameroonian rulers, so that entire thrones - examples of
> which may be seen in the Linden Museum in Stuttgart - were covered
entirely
> with beads. Closer to home, Ndebele beadwork, often sold on the streets
and
> pavements of Pretoria and Johannesburg, is well known. Traditionally,
> certain beaded items were worn to distinguish young girls from their more
> senior sisters, to identify girls engaged to be married, or to adorn
brides
> and young mothers after the birth of their first children. Among the Xhosa
> of the Transkei, special beadwork marks off peer grounds of different
> age-sets while distinctive regalia is reserved for the bride and groom at
> weddings and for guests closely associated with them.
> What make Zulu beadwork unique, however, is the code by which particular
> colours are selected and combined in various ways to shape messages that
at
> the same time are woven into decorative geometrical designs. The geometric
> shapes themselves have particular significance and the craft itself forms
an
> intricate communicational system devoted entirely to the expression of
> ideas, feelings and facts related to behaviour and relations between the
> sexes.
> It is sometimes difficult to decide whether beadwork is a craft, an art, a
> communicational system similar in principle to a written language or part
of
> a symbolic code used for their own purposes by specialists in traditional
> magic. Zulu beadwork, because it's close relationship with weddings and
> engagements where the major actors are identified by the beaded finery
they
> wear, has at times been presented as evidence in court cases where the
> responsibilities of parties to marriage contracts are in dispute.
Beadwork,
> as an art form, thus intrudes into the fields of social relationships, the
> practice of law and the communication of ideas. Beadwork is the exclusive
> terrain of Zulu women, so that they become in some ways communities of
their
> own, using the beaded items as technical instruments to follow their own
> interests. Amongst women, beadwork is also an educational tool, teaching
> young girls how to conduct themselves in their relationships with males.
> All this indicates that Zulu beadwork is closely integrated with Zulu
social
> organisation, the technology of specialised craftsmanship, religious
beliefs
> and magic, educational objectives, communication and even recreation,
> because the craft itself provides plenty of fun.
> Zulu beadwork tells us a lot about the way in which the Zulu have
> constructed their society. One soon understands that they have produced a
> closely integrated system in which all institution - religious, social,
> economic, educational, technological, communicational, recreational,
legal,
> political as well as those designed to give aesthetic satisfaction in the
> form of art - are mutually supportive. This makes it a very powerful
system,
> highly resistant to change.
> Unfortunately, it is in this very strength that danger lurks; Zulu
> tradition, as in so many other African territories, will resist change
until
> the impact of rises above the optimal margin of tolerance, at which point
> there is the very real possibility that social values will fall apart,
> resulting in serious socio-economic damage.
> What this means is that the impact of change, whether generated by the
need
> for economic development, technological advancement or improved
educational
> levels, should be carefully controlled so that the margins of tolerance
are
> respected. If this is not done, all development programmes are likely to
> fail.
>
> Best wishes
> Becky
> Port Elizabeth, South Africa
>
> Researching: HENWICK; HILL; HORN(E); MEREDITH; DEYZEL; LARSEN; WILLSON;
> LYNAR; HENNING; STERLEY; THECK; BEST; BRAUN, GREENER; GLANVILLE; VAN ZYL
>
>
>
>
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