Zande hat

Zande hat
Other views of this artifact:


Accession Number:
1948.2.162
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1930
Materials:
Palm Fibre Plant , Cane Plant
Process:
Basketry , Twill Woven , Woven , Stitched , Carved , Decorated Dyed
Dimensions:
Ht = 98, Crown L = 130, W = 135 (192 by 186 when measured across diagonals); internal diam lower edge = 165 mm; cross bars W = 8.2, fibre strips W = 2 mm [RTS 1/2/2005].
Weight:
26.6 g
Other Owners:
Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930 [CM; RTS 6/7/2004].
Field Collector:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Found unentered February 1948
Collected Date:
1927 - 1930
Description:
Basketry hat, consisting of a flat, square crown that has been woven from strips of narrow yellow coloured palm fibre in a twill pattern of over 2, under 2. This has been stiffened across the top with 2 narrow cane pieces that cross over one another at the centre, their sharpened ends being pushed through the cane work body at each corner to secure them. The corners have become slightly raised as a result of this. The pieces have semicircular sections, with the convex side facing upwards. One of these strips is incomplete, although a shadow has been left across the surface where it originally lay, representing the original colour of the basketry (Pantone 7506C). The rest of the surface has darkened to a deeper yellowish brown (Pantone 7508C).
The body of the cap becomes increasingly circular below the crown, and has been made with a looser weave in which dyed brown strips contrast with the naturally coloured yellow ones to create a geometric pattern of horizontal and vertical elements. The background is dark brown (Pantone black 7C), with a series of vertical zigzags in yellow framing a central lozenge over a triangle on each side, with the lozenge interior being divided into 4 quadrants of opposing colours. Each corner is decorated with pendant triangles above multiple concentric lozenges. At its base, the method of weaving changes yet again to form a broad circular band around the edge. This is made up of yellow vertical strips on the inside of the hat, and and continuous horizontal strips running around the exterior in an alternating series of brown and yellow bands. These two elements have been stitched together using narrower pieces of fibre in a double row of stitching at the top, then with very fine oblique stitching made up of even thinner fibre thread below. It is finished at the interior of the base by an obliquely woven fibre strip and on the exterior with 2 parallel strips sewn together. The strips that make up the body weave have been pulled up inside this finishing edge, with their ends splaying out and upwards to form an angled fringe.
The hat is nearly complete, but is missing part of one of the cross pieces, while the body weave is damaged near one corner, and some of the fringe strips have been broken off. It has also changed slightly from its original colouring, while there are clear bloodstains on the interior walls and crown, mostly in a single line running down one side of the head. It has a weight of 26.6 grams, and is 98 mm high. The crown measures 130 by 135 mm across the sides, and the lower edge has an internal diameter of 165 mm. The cross pieces are 8.2 mm wide; the narrow strips from which the body has been woven are 2 mm wide.

Probably collected by Evans-Pritchard himself during his fieldwork amongst the Zande, which took place during 1927, part of 1928 and 1929 and for several months during 1930.

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, while Evans-Pritchard's comment that it was worn by boys might suggest that this was a new variant form, rather than a direct continuation of the old
kutuku. 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 (Brock 1918, op.cit., pp 251-2). 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.

Rachael Sparks 19/08/2005.

Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry [p. 264] - E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD, INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, OXFORD. Found unentered; collected by donor. [p, 268] 1948.2.162-4 - ZANDE. [1 of] 3 boy's caps of plaited straw, no brims, ends left as fringe, split cane stiffeners on crown. Geometrical pattern in black and white.

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].

Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - ZANDE 1948.2.162. Boy's hat. d.d. Evans Pritchard [brown luggage tag, tied to object; RTS 1/2/2005].

Written on object - ZANDE ZANDE [on crown of hat in pencil; RTS 1/2/2005].



 
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