Antique Kapsiki Cache-sexe from Cameroon, circa early 1900s.

Dimensions: 18”(W) x 9”(H)

Rectangular red beaded panel with triangles of blue, white and red. Very eye-catching. These aprons or cache-sexes were typically worn by girls and women in certain tribes before clothing restrictions were imposed by the influence of Islam and the 1961 Cameroon government ban on nudity. Scholars have suggested that the beaded examples replaced earlier iron cache-sexes and were worn on special occasions such as marriage or the presentation of a newborn child. They typically had an edging of cowrie shells, a traditional form of currency that was removed before sale or trade of these items.