Under apron (iinkciya) (1800s–1900s): Art, History and Details

Under apron (iinkciya) (1800s–1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This is an exquisite example of a rare type of swallowtail-shaped apron worn by young female initiates until the mid-19th century. On the upper portion, the black beads were applied in such a way that they can be read as a human face or even as a full figure. In fact, the overall form of the apron can be viewed as representing the lower torso and legs of a woman with a neatly marked pubic region.

Object facts

• Title: Under apron (iinkciya)
• Date: 1800s–1900s
• Culture: Africa, Southern Africa, South Africa, Xhosa-style (South Nguni) maker
• Type: Garment
• Technique: Leather, glass beads, and sinew
• Dimensions: Overall: 34 x 18 x 2.5 cm (13 3/8 x 7 1/16 x 1 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 2010.206

A detail from the museum

Women made beaded "aprons" like this to wear under their clothes on festive occasions in the nineteenth century; expensive imported beads were a sign of wealth and status.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Conru, Kevin, Anne de Knock, and Conru Primitive Art (Firm). 2005. Conru : Southeast African and Oceanic Art. Brussels: Conru, p. 17 and back cover.
• Pemberton, John, and Smith College Museum of Art. 2008. African Beaded Art : Power and Adornment. Northampton, Mass: Smith College Museum of Art, cat. 101.
• Petridis, Constantijn, Karel Nel, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 2011. The Art of Daily Life : Portable Objects from Southeast Africa. Cleveland, Milan, New York: Cleveland Museum of Art ; 5 Continents Editions ; Distributed in U.S. by Harry N. Abrams, p. 67, fig. 4 and p. 71, fig. 13.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.