This fine Mfengu necklace covered the upper breast of the wearer in the manner of a gorget. Beaded in intricately linked rows of black, red, white, and two shades of blue, it would have been worn in concert with other layers of beadwork to maximize their dazzling visual effect. An old handwritten label is attached, reading (incorrectly) “Pondo necklet.”

Though women wore beadwork most often in South Africa, men also donned beaded pieces and would receive them as tokens of affection from the women who made them. The quantity of beadwork worn by a man during festive occasions was a telling measure of his popularity.