Necklace Item Number: 3596/6 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Round beaded neck ring with geometric design. Necklace consists of thirteen rows of encircling beads, becoming successively smaller in size towards centre; pattern across surface is of squares with thick lines in between. Borders are done in dark blue, red and white; squares done in dark blue, white, red, orange, and light green. Inner edges of necklace bordered with white and dark blue rows; outer rim bordered with yellow and red. Braided wires, strips of leather, and pieces of plastic are placed intermittently across neck ring to hold beads in place. Spaces between pieces of leather have vertical stripes patterns; done in green, red, white, dark, blue, and orange. Necklace has no opening.
Collected by Rudolf Kovanic in 1999, from a Maasai village bordering the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Kovanic was in the area filming a wildlife series.
The beads are strung onto wire that produce a firm structural base. The maker has used plastic dividers (unlike the bone dividers in 3596/7), cut into narrow sections and pierced through, holding each of the 13 beaded wires in a uniform, circular arrangement. At the top and bottom they used stiff, tanned cow leather strips to hold the wire strands.