Collections Database

Description:
Long belt ornamented with a central knot of green, white and blue beadwork and cowrie shells

Label Text:
These types of belts, known as nkody mu-ikup belts, are worn by women on the occasion of festivals, such as the dance itul, when important moments in the history of the Kuba people are celebrated and persons are elevated to the rank of “notables” or chieftaincies. This belt is decorated with cowrie shells laid out in three rows of equal length on either side of a central section in which the design of a square knot appears in green and white beads. This decorative feature is worn at the back of the dancer; the belt is tied in front by strands of fiber or leather.

-John Pemberton III, Curator, Smith College Museum of Art
African Beaded Art: Power and Adornment (2008)

Tags:
African

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2000.7.1

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.