A pair of well-worn, khaki polyester-cotton trousers or pre-initiate ibulukwe from Gobozana, South Africa. The accession card reads that they were made by No-one Ntuku of the Mamiya clan, possibly an act of refusal by the maker to be named in the record. Cut off below the knee with a rough zigzag design, the trousers have extensive decorative beadwork in red, white, blue and black as patterns and along the garment’s seams and hems. Xhosa first names and initials are beaded and handwritten in thick, uneven black, red and blue pen.

Artist: Ntuku of the Mamiya clan, South Africa

Date of Production: c. 1980s

Place of Design: Gobozana (Flagstaff), Eastern Cape, South Africa

Poly-cotton re-purposed trousers cut, patched and embellished with glass beads and ink-pen patterning and names.

Access Number: SAM14394

Size: 2cm x 75cm x 40cm

Museum: Iziko Museums of South Africa