HAT FOR COMMENT
 

OK I know its not a weapon but here is a hat ( the woven one , not Queen Vic's one ! ) which has been in my collection for over 25 years , just sitting on a display case in a room and I was just doing the Christmas decorations in there when I suddenly noticed it and thought I have no proper idea of its origins. As you can see the colours are much brighter on the inside of the hat than on the outside. I always vaguely attributed it to N W Africa but not sure where I got that from ! Opinions appreciated .

I believe these are food covers. The one I have is quite large, I know there are some big heads around but this is just too big to be a hat. Certainly African. Sorry the pictures are not good.

OK that makes sense with the knob on top .. though mine is only just a little large for my head ! No comments please !

The decorative patterns and construction seem to share similarities with so called Fulani hats, although I believe it is a type of head wear found throughout the Sahel. A Google image search should turn up quite a few.

If your example is a hat or a food cover I have no idea, looks a lot bigger and higher than the average example though so it might not be a hat.

yes Iain looking at typical Fulani hats, they are lower crowned and seen to have leather as part of the construction.

Salaams Thinredline,

It is nice to see an obscure reference appear on the Forum like a woven hat ~ I have discovered buckler shields in the same or similar material and style in Oman see thread TVVs ETHIOPIAN SHIELD FOR ID #11...... and funnily enough regarding hats I was astonished to find a lot of weapon resource material under the most peculiar heading~

PISANELLO’S HAT.

(THE COSTUME AND WEAPONS DEPICTED
IN PISANELLO’S MEDAL FOR JOHN VIII PALAEOLOGUS.
A DISCUSSION OF THE SABER AND RELATED WEAPONS.)

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Salaams Ibrahiim
Most interesting .. you are quite right , much information surfaces in unexpected places, if only one had the time to follow all possibilities
Regards
Richmond

Salaams Richmond~ I happened to be looking at headgear when your thread appeared . I was researching Indian art and culture 1300 to 1900 by Stuart Cary Welch (Met Museum of Art) where I discovered a helmet whos double was owned by a Dutch artist who painted it ... It now sits in the Staatlich Museem in Berlin and titled Man Wearing a Golden Helmet signed by the artist~ Rembrandt !
Here is the hat from the Met Museum whos provenance includes exotic places like Goa, Malacca, Socotra, Dui and Colombo however it was made in the viceregal Goan Armoury and one of only 5 in existence... There is money in Hats !!!
Regards Ibrahiim al Balooshi