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Married Woman's Headdress

Culture Zulu
Title Married Woman's Headdress (Isicholo)
Date 20th century
Medium Cloth, fiber, hair, red ochre, and and animal fat
Dimensions Object: 5 1/8 × 18 7/8 in. (13 × 47.9 cm)
Overall: 5 1/8 × 18 7/8 in. (13 × 47.9 cm)
Credit Line Gift of Budd Stalnaker, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 2006.369

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About this Work

During the nineteenth century, the isicholo was a distinctive hairstyle that identified a Zulu woman as married; over time it has become a detachable headdress, which varies in form from cylindrical to flaring, depending on regional preferences. Frequently decorated with beadwork, the isicholo today is worn primarily on special or ceremonial occasions.


Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Married Woman's Headdress | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2006.369