Hat (Kalyeem) (possibly early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Hat (Kalyeem) (possibly early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Kuba men (and some women) show their title and status with hats and hat accessories. The male owner of this heavily beaded and shell-covered hat (kalyeem) had a senior title. A simple coiled basketry hat forms its foundation (similar to 1915.465). Fabric panels stitched with zig-zagging white and blue beads edged in cowries hang from the top. White bead strands with cowrie shells flow downward, pushed out over the forehead by a large brim. Technically and aesthetically, beaded Kuba hats and masks have much in common; artists specializing in beading techniques had the skills to make both, using imported beads and shells.

Object facts

• Title: Hat (Kalyeem)
• Date: possibly early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuba-style maker
• Type: Garment
• Technique: Raffia, glass beads, cowrie shells, cloth (including wool), thread, and copper alloy
• Dimensions: Overall: 29 x 23 x 23 cm (11 7/16 x 9 1/16 x 9 1/16 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 1998.29

A detail from the museum

The imported beads and shells on this hat were expensive, so they showed off its wearers' wealth.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Painting by 18th-century Italian Master Gaetano Gandolfi among Works Added to CMA Collection,” March 24, 1998, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.