A mixture of plaiting, knotting, tying and knitting combines to create this tightly woven rare prestige hat with surface and raised linear and geometric designs. Woven fibre hats are worn by many men and women throughout DRC as part of daily dress and also as emblems of title. This particular type hat with its complex woven fibre surface structure that has been adorned with bird features of the forest, would have been worn as an insignia and title of higher rank amongst the Nkutschu culture of elders and chiefs.
Estimated Period: Late 19th/Early 20th Century
References
Mary Jo Arnoldi & Christine Mullen Kreamer, 'Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing The Head', p. 88
Flower Museum of Cultural History
(Click on images to enlarge)
