Collections: Arts of the Americas: Hat

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Hat

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.


• Culture: Wari
• Medium: Cotton, reed, feathers
• Place Made: South Coast, Peru
• Dates: 1100-1470
• Dimensions: 6 11/16 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (17.0 x 14.0 x 14.0 cm)
• Collections: Arts of the Americas
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 41.228
• Credit Line: A. Augustus Healy Fund
• Image: Overall, 41.228_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Wari. Hat, 1100-1470. Cotton, reed, feathers, 6 11/16 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (17.0 x 14.0 x 14.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, A. Augustus Healy Fund, 41.228 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.228_SL1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Square-shaped hat of woven cotton cloth over a reed frame decorated with multicolored mosaic feather-work in the form of profile human heads and geometric designs.