Brooklyn Museum: Collections: Arts of the Americas

Feather Headdress. South Coast, Peru. Wari artist, 1100–1470. Cotton, reeds, and feathers, 6 11/16 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (17 x 14 x 14 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 41.228

While square hats are characteristic of the Wari culture, they are usually made of camelid fibers. On this hat, feathers have been attached to a cloth and reed foundation and cut into a mosaic design to create a headdress of exceptional brilliance and beauty. The motifs are similar to those found on fiber hats and other Wari textiles: profile feline heads alternate with a four-part design composed of squares and triangles, repeated on all four sides. The Wari, like other ancient Andean peoples, valued tropical forest birds for their bright, iridescent plumage. They probably considered feathered garments such as mantles, tunics, and headdresses to be high-prestige items because feathers and live birds had to be imported from the distant Amazon jungle. This headdress with vivid mosaic work was probably worn for ceremonial occasions.

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