Unrecorded artist, Ngwane Peoples

Notes

Tradition-based crafts that attract the interest of Western audiences, generally speaking, rely on perceived beauty and value to ensure their survival. This is true of the Ngwane wedding cape, which is transformed from an important cultural object full of arcane significance to a visual event where the skill and aesthetic sensibility of the makers is highlighted.

The Ngwane are a splinter group of the Swazi, however, their weddings generally follow the Zulu pattern, with the bride decked in beadwork.

The largest of the beadwork pieces is the Isikoti, the many-banded wedding day cape. This is a composite piece produced by female relatives of the bride. Early capes had bands of beadwork that were predominantly white with small areas of colour. Bands on recent capes that are in the older style have been attributed to older female relatives. Multi-coloured bands would have been made by the younger generation, including the bride and her sisters.