Collection record · Dress & textiles
Hat (laket)
The collection record classifies this work as garment. It is dated early 1900s. Recorded culture or place: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuba-style maker.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Hat (laket)
- Date
- early 1900s
- Culture / origin
- Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuba-style maker
- Materials and technique
- Raffia and dye
- Dimensions
- Pin: 21.6 cm (8 1/2 in.); Width at bottom: 11.4 x 15.9 cm (4 1/2 x 6 1/4 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1915.467
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Titled Kuba men and prominent women wear the laket, a small ornate dome-shaped hat. An essential fashion item of adult men in good social standing, it focuses special attention on the head as a significant marker of individual identity, ethnic affiliation, status, and role in society. This prestige object is secured on the crown of the head with a nine-and-a-half-inch metal pin that pierces through the hat onto a clump of hair. This laket is made from raffia palm fiber coiled into threads and woven in different patterns. There are two examples of the laket: the plain type with the flat top, and the more elaborate type called the laket mishiing.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Educational Purchase Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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