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. 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.

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: 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.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 1915.467

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.