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

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

The work and its context

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

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. The laket is made from raffia palm fiber coiled into threads and woven in two alternating patterns and contrasting light and dark (dyed) wefts. There are two examples of the laket: the plain type with the flat top, and the more elaborate type called the laket mishiing.

Object facts

• Title: Hat (laket)
• Date: early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuba-style maker
• Type: Garment
• Technique: Raffia and dye
• Dimensions: Overall: 11.4 x 16.2 x 16.2 cm (4 1/2 x 6 3/8 x 6 3/8 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 1915.465.a

Collection credit

Educational Purchase Fund

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.