A mixture of plaiting, knotting, tying and knitting combines to create this tightly woven cap ornamented 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. Weather this Nkutchu cap was an insignia of office or just the headwear of a particularly well-dressed man is uncertain but the elaborate high-relief designs suggest that it belonged to an individual of good taste and considerable means and high status.
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
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