4. CHAPTER FOUR: THE VALUE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY ETHNO- HISTORY IN STUDYING DECORATIVE METALWORK IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
4.7.4: THE MANUFACTURE OF AXES FOR GENERAL USE
4.7.5.2: THE MANUFACTURE OF ORNAMENTATION: SOLID BANGLES
The mention of gold artefacts in the 19th century by ethnologists in southern Africa is fragmentary. Anhaeusser (2012: 2) reported that in the 19th century gold mining in Zimbabwe was largely forgotten and abandoned by the time the first Europeans arrived.
Gold beads were noticed by Bain (1949: 9) in northern Botswana. They were strung around the neck of chief Sebego and were described as “beads of virgin gold”. There is no further information.
from ankle to the knee and from the wrist to the elbow. The copper and brass was acknowledged as being imported by the Tsonga and other tribes in touch with the Arabs in Delagoa Bay (Ashton, 1938: 308).
A group of two copper and 15 iron bangles were found at the archaeological site, Hut #16 at 001 Makgwareng, Lindley District, in the Free State. The collection of 15 bangles came from the interior of a corbelled hut. It is felt that they were stored amongst the upper structure of the hut, while the copper bangles came from the lelapa in the same environment. The bangles were of various sized and thicknesses (Maggs, 1976;
Chirikure, Hall & Maggs, 2008).
In KwaZulu-Natal in the 19th century AD, Fynn (1959), Shooter (1857) and Grout (1861) described the heavy bold brass ornaments they observed being worn by those members of the elite of society attached to the court. Fynn (1959: 49) writing in 1825 describes the chiefs and principal people wearing heavy brass bangles, izingxotha, from the wrist to the elbow (Baleni Ka Silwana, Gxubu ka Luduzo in Webb & Wright, 1976). Shooter (1857: 7) confirms that rings for fingers, arms and ankles were made of brass and copper and manufactured by the metal craftsmen in the region. Grout (1861: 107) mentions that ‘glittering rings were worn by men, women and children’ and that some of them were broad and heavy and very cumbersome to wear. They were considered as insignia of the highest honour. Roodt (1996) provides a comprehensive account of the number of solid arm and leg rings made by the brass smiths working within the king’s residences at this time. The largest and the heaviest, the izingxotha were shaped like gauntlets and were worn on the right wrist. Its main characteristic was its raised and notched and ribbed surface. Chubb’s (1936) discovery of a slab of cast brass in Nongoma, measures 318.0 by 166.0 mm and grooved on one side. It indicates that this was a prior step in the final production of the izingxotha. Figure 4.10 indicates that by heating and bending the metal repeatedly, the metal, in this case displays cracks from metal fatigue.
Figure 4.10 A grooved and ribbed izingxotha showing the characteristics of metal fatigue from KwaZulu-Natal (Conner & Pelrine, 1983: 25).
These ornaments were awarded by the king to persons of note within the kingdom (Roodt: 1996: 96). Bangles of a narrower width were created from brass for ornamenting the upper (isinda) and lower arm (isonga). The isinda varied from 75.0 mm to 90.0 mm in width and was noted for its semi-circular section. The isonga was similar to the former but slightly smaller and normally flattened in shape to fit the wrist and forearm (Roodt, 1996: 96). Leg rings were also a part of the material culture for the well-to-do. Research into leg rings, according to Roodt (1996: 96), shows from past illustrations that they were probably similar in shape to and appearance to arm rings.
Table 4.8 Distribution of solid bangles and armbands from the 18th to 19th centuries sourced from literary data.
Author, date Locality Metal Dimensions mm
Other Information Campbell, 1822 North West
Province
Copper No information Arm and leg rings Champion,1835 KwaZulu/Natal Brass No information Heavy bangles Gardener, 1836 KwaZulu/Natal Brass No information Armlets Flynn, 1950 KwaZulu/Natal Brass
Shooter, 1857 KwaZulu/Natal Brass No information Armlets Backhouse, 1844 Lesotho Brass No information Arm rings Grout, 1861 KwaZulu/Natal Brass No information Heavy armlets Gibson, 1911 KwaZulu/Natal Brass No information Armlets Ellenberger, 1912 Lesotho Brass No information Arm rings Chubb, 1936 KwaZulu/Natal Brass Width: 166.0
Length: 318.0 Thickness:
12.0
Izingxotha
Schwellnus, 1937 Limpopo Province Copper Diameter: 75.0 Thickness: 7.5
Bangle
Bryant, 1949 KwaZulu/Natal Brass No information Izingxotha, Isonga Krige, 1950 KwaZulu/Natal Brass Izingxotha, no information Cooke, 1959 Motopo Hills,
Zimbabwe
Iron Bangle, no information Conner, & Pelrine,
1983
KwaZulu/Natal Brass Brass
Length: 150.0 Length: 175.0
Izingxotha, Mass: ca.1.5 kg Izingxotha
Davison, 1984 Limpopo Province Copper / bronze / brass
Bangle
Webb & Wright, 1976, 1986
KwaZulu/Natal Brass Arm rings
Kennedy 1991 KwaZulu/Natal Brass (3) Brass (4)
100.0 rings Length: 180.0
Amasongo Izingxotha Roodt 1993 KwaZulu/Natal Brass No information Izingxotha Wood, 1966 (a) KwaZulu/Natal Brass (M43)
Brass (M44) Brass (M45) Brass (M53)
Length: 189.0 293.0 cir.
Length: 170.0 286.0 cir.
Length: 175.0 286.0 cir Diameter 85.0, thinness: 26.0
Izingxotha Izingxotha Izingxotha
Brass armlet: Isinda Hall et al, 2006) Marothodi, North
West Province
Bronze No information Bangle fragment
Table 4.8 above indicates that the majority of the heavy arm bands and bangles reported by ethnologists, archaeologists and missionaries were made in KwaZulu-Natal of brass from the early to mid-19th century. Those that were made in KwaZulu-Natal were heavy cast forms (Chubb, 1936) and then worked into the required shape and decoration by skilled metal smiths (see Figure 4.10). The published dimensions show that each one
was made individually as diameters and lengths for each object differed. The information shows that iron, copper and bronze was used for these objects where brass was an unfamiliar metal in areas beyond KwaZulu-Natal.
There is little information on the presence of gold artefacts mentioned by ethnologists in the early 19th century. Cline (1937: 19) reports that a chief in Swaziland was observed wearing a “metal armlet” and that it was so heavy that the European visitor who noticed the ornament considered it to be gold. A similar fragment of information was reported by Johannes Kumalo in the James Stuart Archive (Webb & Wright, 1976: 257). It states that
“Mxaba says that Ngwane (Bunu), the king of Swaziland… used to wear a heavy bangle with studs…This bangle …was made of gold and is known as inzila”
4.7.5.3: THE MANUFACTURE OF ORNAMENTATION: WIRE-WOUND FLEXIBLE