helmet (headwear (armour: body armour))

Basketry hat. Circular close fitting conical hat, consisting of underlying structure of bamboo folded over a circular base strip, loosely interwoven half way up and gathered to a point, the base with a cane rim bound on below, that supports a cane loop (inverted V shape) over the top of the hat. Overlaid by three panels of thin red coloured cane strips in 2 x 2 diagonal twill. One panel shaped with narrowed middle, and fits over the top of the structure, the two other rectangular panels fit in the gaps left on either side. The red panels decorated with lines and circles in yellow orchid stem, including a central lozenge at the front and back. The main panel edged with a strip of yellow orchid stem: the side panels with three horizontal lines of yellow orchid stem.

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The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive.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.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk