Turkana
Woman’s Chest and Back Ornament
Turkana, 1933-1966
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Turkana
Woman’s Chest and Back Ornament
Turkana, 1933-1966
Physical Qualities
Hide, glass beads, 34 13/16 × 3 9/16 × 1 3/16 in. (88.5 × 9 × 3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Nancy and Robert H. Nooter, Washington, D.C.
Object Number
1994.280
In colonial Kenya (1880-1963), you could tell a person's ethnicity based on the jewelry they wore. Turkana women, for instance, favored bands of single-color beads, while Maasai beaders preferred intricate, geometric patterns made from a diverse array of colors. However, a history of colonial oppression lies beneath the surface of these colorful distinctions. Separated by British colonizers into ethnically segregated "native reserves", the women who created these works lost the opportunity for artistic exchange. As colonialism wore on, their designs became more and more ethnically specific.
On View at the BMA
