Detail View: The AMICA Library: Earplugs (Isiqhaza)

BCM_.90.9.1a-d

2003

Costume and Jewelry

Pair of front and rear saltwood disk earplugs worn in perforated, distended ear lobes; decorative outer layer of vinyl asbestos tile multi-color mosaic pieces, fastened to wood with metal nails; white background tile with central band of black, red, blue tile shapes and center design of white diamond flanked by white triangles creating hourglass motif; inverted triangles above and below center band with black, blue, red and green tile mosaic; each front and rear disk with 2 parallel slits for attachment.

African

Zulu, South Africa

Earplugs (Isiqhaza)

Full view

20th century

1900

1990

Wood, tile (vinyl asbestos), metal

Ear ornament

South Africa, Africa

Depth: 3/16 - 1/4"; diameter: 2"

Brooklyn Children's Museum

Brooklyn, New York, USA

90.9.1a-d

Museum purchase, 1990

http://www.amico.org/rights/bcm_.html

From the 19th century to the early 1920s, every Zulu child's ears were pierced as part of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Pierced ears are also as a distinguishing mark of the Zulu people. Small polished bone and ivory disks were favored as ear insertions. By the 1920s, their ritual significance had been lost and earplugs were worn by women as a fashion element. The first earplugs were hardwood disks, then soft woods with painted motifs on white backgrounds. The 1930s brought plastic overlays, and by the 1950s vinyl asbestos tile cut as mosaic pieces was the most common design element. Plexi was used in the 1960s-1970s. Earplugs then lost favor, and since the 1980s clip-on earplugs have been preferred. The design colors often indicate the wearer's region, clan, and station in life, and imitate beadwork patterns.

BCM_.90-9-1a-d.tif