Headdress - Isicholo - Zulu - South Africa (No Reserve Price)

Zulu women wear broad hats, called "isicholo," to display their marital status. These headdresses, like all beaded ornaments, served as distinctive signs to decode their owner's status.

This beret-shaped type of headdress is derived from a hairstyle worn in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During that time, Zulu women shaved their heads, leaving a tuft of hair that they covered with grease and ochre. As the hair grew, they shaped it into a false cone.

This specimen is not old (collected in the 1990s) but is nonetheless authentic. It is well-crafted and highly decorative.

Total height with stand 48 cm.