hat (clothing: headwear)

Vegetable fibre hat. Circular hat of two layers of woven bamboo, the upper layer in narrow twill-woven strips in a geometric pattern, the lower in wider strips of plain twill. The edges are bound with maroon strips, incorporating a circular band of cane which reinforces the edge. The centre of the hat has a similar strip wrapped around the top of four ribs which run from the apex to the rim, dividing the hat into quarters. The maroon strip forms a square motif at the apex. Inside are four strips of bamboo dividing the interior into quarters; these are not structural but slipped into the weave. A wide horizontal strip of wood bent into a circle is attached to the underside of the hat at each of the four ribs with purple rafia, supporting the hat on the wearer's head. A chin strap of twined vegetable fibre is tied to a rib at either side.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

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