Headpiece for Bahamas Junkanoo Revue costume: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The headpiece, or crown, of a man's costume for the Bahamas Junkanoo Revue, a junkanoo troupe in Miami, Florida

The headpiece is red, white, yellow, and blue and resembles an oversized turban in shape. At front center is a red and blue lotus-shaped design, with each petal tipped bordered in gold beading and tipped with a gemstone. At bottom center is a gold metallic sphere trimmed with gold beads. Two strands of gold beads drape down from the sphere and across the wearer's forehead, reconnecting at either side of the center lotus design. Radiating out from the lotus is a larger blue field, bordered by a row of gold beading, a line of yellow fabric, and a row of blue beading. The rest of the headpiece has thick white and red stripes interspersed with thinner yellow stripes. Each stripe is bordered by a row of gold or blue beading.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2015
• Designed by: Wilshire Dames, Bahamian
• Type: hats
• Type: ceremonial costume
• Medium: cardboard, sequin, wire, paper, paint, Glass bead, felt, plastic, glitter, masking tape, and glue
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 13 × 13 × 11 in. (33 × 33 × 27.9 cm)
• Place made: Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: Bahamas, Caribbean, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: African diaspora
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Folklife
• Topic: Holidays and festivals
• Object number: 2015.140.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.