Headpiece (nlo-o-ngo) (early 1900s): Art, History and Details

Headpiece (nlo-o-ngo) (early 1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This headpiece (nlo-o-ngo) was made to look like a similarly shaped hairstyle. While the coiffure gained height from inserts tucked under the hair, here the underlying basket was woven into a central ridge. Plant fibers were woven or braided to mimic hairstyling techniques. Rarely removed, the hat gave the appearance of elaborately styled and decorated hair. Three rows of cowries around the band evoke a shell or bead headband, while the metal furniture tacks are the same as would have been inserted into the hair. Existing in many styles, men or women wore these wiglike headdresses to signify status, group identity, or social roles.

Object facts

• Title: Headpiece (nlo-o-ngo)
• Date: early 1900s
• Culture: Africa, Central Africa, Gabon, Fang style, unknown maker
• Type: Garment
• Technique: Plant fibers, cloth, hair, cowrie shells, buttons, upholstery studs, and thread
• Dimensions: Overall: 15.2 x 17.8 x 20.3 cm (6 x 7 x 8 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 1976.1057

A detail from the museum

Sculptors depicted these characteristic headpieces and coiffures in figurative works that guarded the remains of ancestors.

Collection credit

The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension 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.