Context (Acquisition Details)
This beadwork bird was purchased on 27 April 2000 from The BAT Centre, 45 Maritime Place, Small Craft Harbour, Durban. The BAT Centre business card states: 'Specialists in contemporary Zulu art and craft. Retail and wholesale'.

This object was collected by Julia Tanner while undertaking fieldwork in South Africa from March-May 2000. The fieldwork was financed by MAA's Crowther-Beynon Fund, in order to research and update MAA's South African collections.
Event Date 27/04/2000
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Soft-sculpture bird made of cloth and decorated with beadwork. The bird is a guinea-fowl, a popular and commonly used decorative symbol in South Africa. A padded cloth body is decorated with alternate white and black beads arranged in rows along the body from head to tail. It stands on two long legs which are also adorned with black and white beads. The head is made of blue beads, while the beak and crown are decorated with red beads. The eyes are composed of a central pupil of white beads, surrounded with a circle of red beads.
Event Date 26/1/2011
Author: maa

Description (Physical description)
Soft-sculpture bird made of cloth and decorated with beadwork, made by Thelani Mchulu. The bird is a guinea-fowl, a popular and commonly used decorative symbol in South Africa. A padded cloth body is decorated with alternate white and black beads arranged in rows along the body from head to tail. It stands on two long legs which are also adorned with black and white beads. The head is made of blue beads, while the beak and crown are decorated with red beads. The eyes are composed of a central pupil of white beads, surrounded with a circle of red beads.
Event Date 11/1/2023
Author: Annie Tomkins