Collection record · Small worlds
Neckpiece with panel (umphapheni)
The collection record classifies this work as jewelry. It is dated 1800s–1900s. Recorded culture or place: Africa, Southern African, South Africa, Southeast Cape Region, Northern Nguni (Zulu)-style maker.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Neckpiece with panel (umphapheni)
- Date
- 1800s–1900s
- Culture / origin
- Africa, Southern African, South Africa, Southeast Cape Region, Northern Nguni (Zulu)-style maker
- Materials and technique
- Glass beads, plant fiber, copper alloy, and iron
- Dimensions
- Overall: 68.6 cm (27 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 2010.207
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Consisting of a tasseled length attached to a rectangular panel joined by metal buttons, this neckpiece (umphapheni) was likely worn along with waistbands and headpieces with the same color scheme and patterns. Joined together using stitches and zig-zag patterns popular around the turn of the 20th century, glass beadwork was heavy to wear. The fringe—typical of Zulu-style Northern Nguni beadwork—added additional weight. The imported glass beads testify to centuries of trade connections between southern Africa and Europe, while the brass buttons—probably drawn from a British soldier’s uniform—allude to the Anglo-Zulu conflicts of the 1800s.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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