Love Necklace - Zulu People, South Africa

Beautiful aged necklace made of thousands of small glass "seed" beads sewn onto a fabric rope. The vocabulary of Zulu beads extends to colors, with both positive and negative meanings. Green color (obuluhlaza) symbolizes new life, grass and lush pastures, but also illness and discord. Black color (obumnyama) symbolizes marriage and rebirth, but also death and mourning. Deep red color (obubomvu) means the fires of passionate love, and also serve as an indication of anger and pain. Only white is always positive: spiritual love, purity, virginity and chastity.

Zulu people are a Bantu ethnic group, probably the largest single population group in South Africa. They originated from Nguni-communities who took part in the Bantu migrations. The Zulu was originally a minor clan in what is today Northern KwaZulu-Natal, founded c. 1709 by Zulu Kantombhela. They are known for their strong fighting spirit which has fashioned renowned warriors in history including the likes of Shaka Zulu who played a prominent role in various Zulu wars.

Zulu people are known for their beautiful brightly colored beadwork. Beadwork is a form of communication for the Zulu people. Typically when one is wearing multiple beads, it is a sign of wealth. The more of beads one is wearing, the wealthier they are perceived. The beads have the potential to convey the information about a person's age, gender and marital status. The design and the colours of the beads often conveys a particular message. Beadwork can be worn for everyday use, but is often worn during the important ceremonies such as weddings, rituals such "coming out" (umemulo), and "reeds ceremony" (umkhosi womhlanga), or dances.

It has a traditional clasp.
Height from top to bottom is 9 ⅛" x Width: 7 ¼" x Depth: ½"