This particular cloth is made out of calf skin. Style and patterns are different for women or elders. A selected leader (Olotuno) of the age set can only wear the Enchoriba. Olotuno wear the Echoriba only on special occasions. It is decorated with glass beads, cowrie shells, and small pieces of tin and ostrich eggshells. Using ochre does not soften the Enchoriba. The Maasai and the Sampurr (similar ethnic group) use the same cloth but in different circumstances.
Cowhide, glass beads, cowrie shells, tin, ostrich, eggshell, and blood
33 7/16 x 32 in. (85 x 81.3 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.1211
Not currently on view
Resources
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988.
Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.
