KAKA CHIEFS HAT
CAMEROON, 20TH CENTURY
£260
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities
Auction: 1 May 2019 from 12:00 BST
Description
embroided cotton and porcupine quill, raised on a bespoke mount
Dimensions
33cm tall
Footnote
Provenance:
Bryan Reeves, London
Private collection, London
Note:
Hats and headdresses with this distinctive use of porcupine quill began to emerge in the Grassfields region of Cameroon around the turn of the 20th century. Traders from northern Nigeria introduced embroidered hats to the area which hid the elaborate hairstyles of twisted strands of hair worn by men. Here, porcupine quill (which tended to be reserved for high status use) has been substituted to imitate these ornate styles.