Hats are important visual manifestations of Kuba ideas about ethnicity, status and leadership. David A. Binkley, a scholar of Kuba arts, identified this hat as a ‘lakuum,’ a type that is reserved for the king (nyim) and senior male titleholders. In the 1995 publication “Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head,” Binkley pointed out that the top of the ‘lakuum’ is usually ornamented with red feathers from the African grey parrot, an insignia of the highest ranking titleholders, noting that the use of yellow feathers in this example is unusual.
All Kuba hats are created by male specialists from undyed raffia fiber using the basketry technique of coiling. As with most Kuba hats, this one begins with a coiled foundation in the form of a domed cap called a ‘laket,’ the most common type of hat worn by titled and non-titled men and which marks the newly achieved adult status of young men following their initiation. It forms the base for more elaborate Kuba hat styles. The ‘laket’ is often embellished with contrasting embroidery or oversewn with two to three tightly spaced rows of twisted raffia thread (‘mishiing’), thus adding a sculptural quality to the basic domed hat. As men accrue titles and achieve higher status, their hats are covered with appliqued hide, feathers, shells and beads and ornamented with iron feather holders and hat pins. The many surface textures and patterns of Kuba hats reflect the variations possible with the coiling technique and the skillful manipulation of the hat maker.
Description:
Conical hat with basketry substrate covered on the exterior with hide with hair still intact. The hide covering is a dark brown hair with geometrical (largely circular) pieces of light colored hair appliqued. The top of the hat has a bundle of bright yellow and brown feathers attached by knotting into the basketry substrate. The bottom perimeter has an edging made from typical fiber “velvet” cord.
Provenance:
Pierre Loos, -- to 1990
Craig Subler, purchased in Brussels, 1990 to 2012
Exhibition History:
Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head, Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, January 22-July 16, 1995; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 8-August 18, 1996; Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, September 1-November 1, 1996; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, April 22-June 14, 1997
Dressing the Head: More Than a Matter of Taste, UMKC Gallery of Art, Kansas City, 1992
Published References:
Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Christine Mullen Kreamer. 1995. Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 166, no. 9.13.
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