Brooklyn Museum: Collections: Arts of the Americas

Festival Hat. Potosí(?), Bolivia. 18th century. Repoussé silver plaques on velvet, glass beads, wire, 4 15/16 x 13 1/4 x 13 1/4 in. (12.5 x 33.7 x 33.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 41.1275.274c

This elaborate hat is an example of South American viceregal silverwork at its finest. Many separate repoussé silver plaques have been sewn onto the velvet base of a sombrero with a rounded crown and a flat, circular brim. Such hats were worn by dancers at festivals in the silver-mining areas of Bolivia. The motifs on the brim include birds, cornucopias, and curvilinear floral vines emerging from vases. The crown is decorated with additional flowers and vines. The triangular-shaped plaque covered with llamas may represent Cerro de Potosí, the mountain from which silver was mined in the region. Surrounding decorations include a lion, a pair of dogs, birds (including peacocks and a rooster), the sun (with a face), a crescent moon (with flowers), and stars. The other side of the hat (not pictured here) contains mermaids playing charangos (Andean guitars), along with flowers, elephants, and other animals.

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