Zulu Crafts

A variety of materials are used to construct vessels - clay, grass and telephone wire.

However where clay is scarce, baskets are made using the split leaves of the iLala palm. Soaking the leaves in a natural colourant made from dung or other natural pigments creates patterns. The patterns advertise the maker of the basket and often incorporate traditional designs. The vessels are sealed with moist maize flour that causes the grass to swell.

Beads were attributed to a mystic origin and arrived initially from Arab and European traders from Delagoa Bay (Maputo) in the early 19th century. They were the most valuable of commodities - four were worth a chicken and a few kilos were worth a bull. Red was considered the most valuable, followed by blue then white and black. Only the chiefs wore green and yellow. Before beads, bones, ivory, copper and wood were used for adornment.

Love letters date from the introduction of glass beads (~1830) which were quickly given meanings dependent upon their colour. Prior to beads, Zulu girls would use seeds, ostrich eggshell and seashells for adornment.

The loveletters are small, postage stamp sized plaques of beads that convey an emotion to the recipient - usually a favourable or unfavourable inclination towards his advances. The colours are mixed to convey a range of meaning.

The interpretations are courtesy of kwaBhekitunga/Stewart's Farm.

	White is the colour of purity.
	Black indicates the colours of the rafters of the hut, to which colour the maiden has turned in pining for her loved one.
	Blue - if I were a dove, I would fly to your home and pick up food at your door.
	Yellow - I shall never eat if we marry because you own no beast you can slaughter.
	Pink - You should work harder to gain your lobola and not gamble your money away.
	Green - I have become thin like the sweet cane in a damp field and green as the first shoots of a tree because of my love for you.
	Red - My heart bleeds and is full of love.

The most magnificent, symmetrical pots are constructed of clay without the use of a potter's wheel. They are used for drinking from, as water carriers and as brewing vessels. They are fired in a grass fire, the fuel determining the final colour of the pot.

Carving is traditionally a male pursuit and before the advent of tourism was restricted to pails, mortars and eating utensils.