1948.2.164

Collection type

Object

Description

Brimless basketry hat with square crown strengthened by cane cross-pieces and a circular, 2 colour body with fringed base, worn by boys [RTS 2/2/2005].

Long description

Basketry hat, consisting of a flat, square crown that has been woven from flat narrow palm fibre strips in a twill pattern of over 2, under 2. This has been stiffened across the top with 2 narrow strips of cane that cross over one another at the centre, with sharpened ends that have been pushed through the hat surface at each corner to hold the pieces in place. These are very slightly convex across their upper surfaces, and are a mid brown colour (Pantone 7505C). The body of the hat becomes increasingly circular below the crown, where the weave changes to a looser pattern made up of vertical and horizontal strips arranged in a geometric design in which the natural yellow colour of the fibre (Pantone 7509C) is contrasted with strips that have been dyed a darker brown (Pantone Black 7C). The latter provides the background, over which a series of chevron and lozenge motives have been picked out in yellow. These focus around a central solid yellow lozenge with dark brown centre framed by an open lozenge, at the middle of each side. Double < and >-shaped chevrons radiate out on either side of these, while each corner is decorated with double triangles pendant from the top, and triple triangles pointing upwards from the base. The result is a continous pattern that repeats itself around the body of the hat. Below this section, the style of weaving changes yet again to form a circular band around the lower edge. This is made up of vertical strips running down the inside edge, laid at right angles to horizontal strips around the exterior, arranged as three bands of yellow alternating with bands of dark brown. The two layers have been sewn together using a very fine fibre thread, which alternates in colour from yellow to brown to match the colour of the background body. Separate yellow fibre strips have been wound round the bottom edge of the hat, with their ends protruding upwards at an angle to form a long fringe. The body has been well woven with only a few loose ends sticking out from the interior walls and some very minor damage to the outer surface. Apart from this, and a few broken fringe ends, the hat is complete. It has a weight of 31 grams, and is 95 mm high. The crown measures 143 by 134 mm across the top sides, while the lower edge has an internal diameter of 167 mm. The cross pieces are 9 mm wide and the narrow fibre strips making up the body are each 2 mm wide [RTS 2/2/2005]

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Cultural groups

Zande

Person

Field collector Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

PRM source Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1930

Date collected

1927 - 1930

Acquisition information

Found unentered: 1948

Materials and processes

Material Palm Fibre Plant, Material Cane Plant, Process Basketry, Process Twill Woven, Process Woven, Process Stitched, Process Carved, Process Decorated, Process Dyed

Dimensions

Length 143 mm crown, Width 134 mm crown, Height 95 mm, Diameter 167 mm internal, Weight 31 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1948.2.164

Research and responses

Evans-Pritchard discusses Zande hats in his book, The Azande; his comments presumably refer to the situation back in 1926-1930, when he conducted his fieldwork amongst this group: “In sketches by early travellers Azande men are shown wearing straw hats. Schweinfurth describes them as using ‘a cylindrical hat without any brim, square at the top and always ornamented with a waving plume of feathers; the hat is fastened on by large hair-pins, made either of iron, copper, or ivory, and tipped with crescents, tridents, knobs and various other devices [In the Heart of Africa II, p. 8; This type of hat is depicted being worn at the top of the head, see vol. I p. 439]. The same kind of cylindrical, brimless straw hat was still worn in 1906 when Gezer visited the Azande of Tembura’s kingdom and of the old kingdom of Ezo. This is the old Mbomu hat, called kutuku, and some of the older men still keep to a version of it. The hat which is today fashionable, and has been for some years, is of much the same shape but with two new features: black lateral patterns, often wavy lines, and a broad brim, the first being copied from the Mangbetu and the second from the earliest Europeans” (Evans-Pritchard 1971, pp 70-71). Brock stated that Zande hats were worn from greenish white split grass, being round at the base and square at the top, with patterns around the top in blackened grass. He suggests that the presence or absence of brims was according to fashion, which also determined how the hat's feathers were arranged (R.G.C. Brock, 1918, "Some Notes of the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and Records 1, p. 254).

Note that this hat does not show signs of having had any feathers attached, but does have the Mangbetu inspired colouring without the then fashionable brim. Evans-Pritchard's comment that this example was worn by boys might suggest that this we are looking at a new usage of the former kutuku type; the fringed edge seems to be a new variant of this form. An almost identical hat, 1930.86.32, is described by Evans-Pritchard as having been worn by a boy during his circumcision rites, so it seems likely that this was also the case here. Brock recorded that grass hats were made specially for the dances that take place some time after a boy's circumcision, which takes place from the age of 12 onwards. A special dance is performed, then a grass hat placed before each boy, into which offerings such as rings, bracelets, and spears can be placed. These offerings go to the men who circumcised and trained the boys to do the circumcision dance. Later, the hats are worn by the boys, and the dance is performed throughout the night (R.G.C. Brock 1918, "Some Notes of the Zande Tribe as Found in the Meridi District", Sudan Notes and Records 1, 251-2).

Search terms: Clothing Headgear, Basketry, Status, Ritual and Ceremonial, Hat, Headgear, Ceremonial Object