I agree with Colin's well placed assessment, and that this is probably a native fabrication imitating a colonial pith helmet and from an African location where cattle are prevalent.
It is actually quite common for native artisans to create copies of colonial armor and indeed helmets using locally available materials, and there are many analogous examples.
In West Africa, native warriors in Benin developed armor cuirasses and helmets using pangolin (scaly ant eater) hide which were presumably from as early as the presence of Portuguese traders in those coastal regions. While these tough 'armored' hides were effective due to their protective qualities, much of the concept was probably symbolic as well, as these animals were virtually invulnerable to attack. In many cases garments were made of cloth but with scales representing that invulnerability.
In colonial New Spain, in northern Mexico and American Southwest, while almost cliché images show Spanish soldiers wearing the combed morion helmets, there are a good number of examples of simple rawhide helmets known. It is unclear whether these were worn by Spanish soldiers wearing ersatz types of helmets or whether fashioned and worn by Indian allies, but the ones I have seen recall this type of production. Using dried cattle hide, these indeed become very hard and effective protective gear.
Other cases exist of course in many cultural spheres, such as the native made copies of Spanish morions in Moro setting in the Philippines, and there must be many others.
This helmet of undetermined African regional attribution is most interesting and hopefully other examples might be brought in.
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