Woman's Basketry Hat
CultureHupa, Northern California
Dateca. 1900
MediumHazel shoots, woodwardia and maidenhair fern, and bear grass
DimensionsOverall: 3 3/4 × 7 inches (9.53 × 17.78 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number33-1295
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 207
Collections
DescriptionBorder banded in brown, tan, and natural.Gallery LabelThe importance of women's basketry hats is indicated by the fact that even after the Hupa and related groups began wearing Euro-American clothes, hats remained the last surviving article of native dress. Worn during ceremonial events, these beautiful objects reflected the owner's status and taste. The progression of dissimilar yet harmonious geometric motifs encircling this hat establishes a visual reversal of figure and background. Tribal aesthetics dictated that harmony be established between the large, dominant pattern on the side of the hat and the smaller motif at the rim.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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