3-072-532 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A Zulu Maiden, South Africa, c1899. 'The above is a picture of a Zule belle in her most fetching costume. Great attention has been paid to the coiffure, which is arranged by the help of a liquid vegetable gum. The hair is divided into several small strands, solidified and stuck together with the above primitive cosmetic; the tails thus formed are brought down over the forehead until the wearer's head resembles an inverted mop. The rest of the costume is composed of an apron, a blanket, and a few strings of beads'. From a photograph by Middlebrook.