Ndebele Woman’s Apron

This married woman’s apron, known as itjorholo, is from the Southern Ndebele people, who are part of the Bantu ethnolinguistic group. The Southern Ndebele live primarily in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces in northeast South Africa. Ndebele women and girls wear a series of different […]


Tuareg Ehel Tent Post

The Tuareg are a seminomadic people who live in the Saharan region of North Africa, including Niger, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Burkina Faso. This ehel tent post is from Mali. Traditionally, the Tuareg live in tents known as ehen. The tents are made from goat […]


Tibetan Saddle Rug

Historically, saddle rugs like this one were central to the tradition of horseback riding in Tibet. This type of saddle rug was used for cushioning between the horse’s back and the saddle. A second smaller rug would have been placed on top of the saddle […]


Maya Huipil

A huipil is a rectangular blouse that makes up part of a Maya women’s traditional outfit. The word huipil comes from the Nahuatl (Aztec) language, and blouses in this style have been worn by indigenous Mesoamerican women for more than one thousand years. This huipil […]


Japanese Carpentry Tool

This traditional Japanese tool is known as a sumitsubo. In English, the name translates to ink pot, but it is also referred to as an ink line or ink line reel. It is used to mark lines on wood, similar to chalk lines often used […]


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