NHM-HT.129-2014
Parts
Object number
NHM-HT.129-2014
Object type
Identification
Description
Woven rattan Berawan hat, with bead, sequin and thread decoration
Comments
Display label:
'Berawan hat
This large hat from the Baram River, Sarawak, is as functional as it is decorative. When spending all day in a narrow dugout on the river, alternately scorched by the tropical sun and deluged by torrential rain, they are a lifesaver. Made from nipah palm leaves, the adornments are coloured shells and beads in time-honoured patterns. The hornbill feathers denote, we were told, that the owner had taken a head. Headhunting was abolished by the Rajahs Brooke in the early twentieth century, and only briefly resuscitated in the battle to remove the Japanese at the end of World War II. It seems therefore unlikely that this hat, albeit quite old, had been owned by one who had taken heads in his youth.'
'Berawan hat
This large hat from the Baram River, Sarawak, is as functional as it is decorative. When spending all day in a narrow dugout on the river, alternately scorched by the tropical sun and deluged by torrential rain, they are a lifesaver. Made from nipah palm leaves, the adornments are coloured shells and beads in time-honoured patterns. The hornbill feathers denote, we were told, that the owner had taken a head. Headhunting was abolished by the Rajahs Brooke in the early twentieth century, and only briefly resuscitated in the battle to remove the Japanese at the end of World War II. It seems therefore unlikely that this hat, albeit quite old, had been owned by one who had taken heads in his youth.'
Description
Material
organic
Production
People
Place
Sarawak
History and association
Previous ownership
References
• Hanbury-Tenison, R., Beauty Freely Given: A Universal Truth. Artefacts from the Collection of Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Garage Press, 2012 (p. 45)
