Winona Wenzlick Sands (1907-2002): Southern Ndebele Woman, 1920s-1930s

We believe this was created by our grandmother during her years as an art student at UCLA, and later Pratt and Columbia, although it would not explain her subject matter.
 
We believe this is a Southern Ndebele woman, as it was the only African culture where we found women wear neck rings and loose head coverings, as well as wearing the vibrant geometric pattern of the head covering. According to our research, in this South Africa based people, only married women wear neck rings, called dzilla, given to her by her husband and in the past (not now) expected to be worn until his death. Metal rings are also worn on arms and legs, usually in sets of three (as in this painting of one arm and one leg, although one arm only features two rings). The richer the husband, the more rings a woman would wear. In the past, married woman always wore some form of head covering as well, as a sign of respect for her husband.
 
This piece is signed WENZLICK.W. at the bottom in a light blue color. It does have splotches of black paint to the left side of the woman’s head, but otherwise is in very good condition for its age.
 
Read more about our grandmother, Winona Wenzlick Sands, and her art history on our About Us page.
 
H 13 5/8” x L 11 5/16”
 
Disclaimer: We have tried to make sure colors shown in photos are representative of the real colors of each item. We have tried to identify all imperfections in descriptions, but we may have missed some. If you are unhappy with your purchase, let us know.