African headdresses, coiffeurs, crowns, hats and turbans.

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Gallery Ezakwantu
African Art - Art Africain - Tribal Art - 菲洲艺术 - Afrikanische Kunst

Central and Southern African Tribal Art

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African Headdresses - African Wigs

Coiffes Africaines – Perruques Africaines - Garnitures de Tête Africaines

Afrikanischer Kopfschmuck - Afrikanische Frisur - Afrikanische Kopfbedeckung

Zulu Hats - Zulu Headdress

Human Hair & Fabric Hats worn by Zulu Women

A Celebration of Zulu Creativity - Isicolo

Mariann Hill Monastery Circa 19th Century Postcard

Throughout the 19th century - Zulu women sported coiffures that protruded upwards from the back of the head.

Postcards - Circa 1920

The coiffures were prestigious, admired and in some cases, up to a meter long.

Photograph by Duggan-Cronin Circa 1935 Circa 1900 Albumen Print

Slide - Barbara Tyrrell @ Copyright Photograph by Barbara Tyrrell @ Copyright

Subsequent to European contact, Zulu hair fashions developed into removable hats.

Slide by Barbara Tyrrell @ Copyright

Small amounts of human hair remained a part of each creation, suggesting that the removable coiffure remained an extension of the persons head.

Zulu Hat number 566.

Zulu Hat number 566 is made of palm fiber, cord, fabric, hard board, ochre and human hair.

Photographs by Barbara Tyrrell @ Copyright

Amounts of beadwork were attached to hats at the occasion of a wedding.

Zulu Hat number 566 includes an iron mount.

Women constructed the foundation of the hat on a lightweight frame of basketwork. Traditionally Zulu men were the weavers, but by this time so many were working in the mines, the task had become woman's work.

Related hats - Zulu Shembe Festival - South African TRIBAL LIFE TODAY - Pg 135

Mid 20th century postcards.

The ease of a hat's removal allowed for the girth of the object to increase, while the basketry coil technique allowed the body to flare.

South African TRIBAL LIFE TODAY - Pages 44 and 45 - Photography Jean Morris

As the size of the hats increased, both human hair and knotted or stitched woven fabric were used to cover and decorate the coiled basketry frame. Hats were attached around the forehead with a band of fabric tied to the rear.

Click either thumbnail for enlargement.

Zulu hat number 8726

Lamb's wool was also used in the place of human hair. Item 8726 above is a rare example of a combination of human hair and lamb's wool used to cover the structure. Note that the mounting technique used in our displays, allows the hat to be viewed from different directions.

Zulu Hat number 577 + - 50 centimetres wide.

The Zulu hat above represents the largest form of Zulu human hair hat known to us. In addition, Zulu hats this thin are rare, as evidenced above right. Even so, basketry work remained coiled grass fibre.

Zulu Hat number 578 + - 51 centimetres wide.

Modern Zulu women often walk with an umbrella to shade them from the sun. During the overlapping fashion period that pertains to these large Zulu hats, the need for an umbrella largely fell away.

Zulu Hat number 579 + - 50 centimetres wide.

Our Zulu hats do not have large black circles, stars or silly crosses at their centre. This is because we do not invent or tamper with artefacts like some other dealers. The mentioned markings were NOT traditionally found on Zulu hats and therefore are NOT correct.

Zulu Hat number 580 + - 50 centimetres wide.

Larger resolution images of all hats are available on request.

Flared Zulu Human Hair Hat

The Zulu - Alice Mertens Page 48 and 44

Zulu Hat number 633

The forehead section 'or brow section' of this Zulu human hair hat incorporates woven black and white from cotton wool, much like those Alice Mertens published in 'The Zulu' (above).

Zulu Hat number 633

Unlike the earlier hats shown, this example flares outward and the upper surface is concave.

Zulu Hat number 633 is + - 47 centimetres wide.

The custom made mount was designed so that the object may be displayed from all sides.

Fabric Zulu Hats

Zulu Hat number 581

Over time, human hair hats gave way to those covered entirely with cotton fibre as above.

Zulu Hat number 581 + - 46 centimetres wide.

Thousands of stitches added strength and appeal, while the inner construction remained sturdy basketry work.

Zulu Hat number 7078

Our large fabric hats are old and well used, apparent from the tie down fabric. Though not always shown, each Zulu hat includes a custom made iron stand.

Zulu Hat number 7078

Slide by Barbara Tyrrell @ Copyright

Smaller Zulu hats appeared from 1980, and were also used at weddings.

Decorative Zulu Hats

A South African Bus Trailer

They became smaller due to the evolution of South African transport law. Since the first half of the 20th century, rural and local transport had been provided exclusively by large government owned buses or 'bus trailers'. These bus-trailers were for the most part driven by white drivers who hauled their black passengers around. The configuration of the vehicles used is shown above. It physically separated blacks from whites.

Postcard depicting a Zulu woman wearing a smaller fabric hat, circa 1980.

The 'inside' story: Twenty three people and a goat pack into a South African minibus taxi.

From the early 1980's, all race groups in South Africa were allowed to apply for a transport license. At this point large Zulu hats fell out of fashion for practical reasons. With limited space, large hats were un-functional in minibus taxis.

Zulu Hat number 8742 Zulu Hat number 8643

Our smaller Zulu hats from this period are displayed with a black ring mount and if preferred, easily removed.

Click Thumbnail for Larger Image

Ring Reverse

As with the larger human hair hats, the mounts were designed to please the eye from all directions.

Headdresses of the Himba

Ovahimba Wigs - Crowns

Himba Ehando Wig

Worn by Young Girls from Puberty

Young Himba Women wearing Ehando wigs.

During ceremonial activates, girls between the ages of seven and puberty would often wear wigs called Ehando, with loosely hanging plaits. These wigs are passed from mother to daughter and quite rare in collections.

Himba Ehando Wig

Himba Ehando Wig - # 262

Ehando wigs are made of elephant and or buffalo hide, twisted baobab fibre, glass beads, iron beads, fat and ochre. Above - glass and steel beads, as well as a zipper were added. A custom made iron stand is included.

Ovahimba Ehando Wig

Himba Ehando Wig - # 244

Relatively few Ehando wigs have been collected and as a result are rarely found in museum collections. Larger resolution images are available on request.

Himba Ekori Bonnet or Crown

Himba woman admiring an Ekori headdress or bonnet.

When a young Himba girl has completed her puberty ceremony, the so-called Ekori festival takes place. At this stage, she receives the Ekori headdress and only then becomes marriageable. The Ekori is made of tanned sheep or goatskin and has three leaf-shaped heavily stitched upper horns, sometimes decorated with iron beads. The horns represent cattle and the amount (three), the Himba's superiority over them.

Himba Ekori Crown

Himba Ekori - # 263

All of our headdresses include custom made iron stands. Additional views of this Ekori as well as others, are available on request.

Himba woman with Ekori headdresses - a mother dressing her or bonnet.

As soon as a young woman begins to wear the Ekori, long thin plaits ozondjise are made for her. Should she marry in the meantime she must observe a number of taboos while she wears the Ekori. She is only regarded as a fully-fledged woman after she has borne a child. The Erembe headdress replaces the Ekori when a woman has been married for about a year or has had a child. The Ekori is from then on worn only during ceremonial occasions.

Ovahimba Ekori Bonnet

Himba Ekori - # 264

The 'ears' of this Ekori bonnet have steel beads sown deeply into the leather.

Himba Erembe Headpiece

Himba women of various ages wearing Erembe head adornments.

Ekori headdress are replaced by the Erembe headdress once a woman has been married for a year or gives birth to a child. The Erembe is made of skin of a goat’s head, fat and ochre. It is fastened under the hair at the back of her head by two thongs. The women’s platelets are gradually lengthened. They sometimes buy hair from other women.

Himba Erembe Headpiece

Himba Erembe - # 265

Young Himba women wearing Erembe head adornments.

Pondo women wore decorative wigs or headdresses during the late 19th and 20th centuries.

This wig is the combination of three separate articles, joining into the resulting elegant object.

Click Thumbnails for Larger Images

Cords were made from plant fiber, ochre and beads then applied.

Over the years we have had a number of these and this example will likely be the last offered.

Yaka - Suku - Pende Beaded Crowns

Democratic Republic of the Congo - DRC

Pende Chief Kwilu - Circa 1970 - Photographer Eliot Elisofon

Example A

On offer are four rarely seen beaded crowns, used by the Pende, Suku and Yaka tribal chiefs and headmen in Angola and the former Belgium Congo. Beaded crowns were called Misango. They were owned by paramount chiefs, nobles, sub chiefs, headmen and also headmasters of the nkanda initiation camp. Crowns were worn at ceremonies and rituals involving social status, initiations and to express political authority.

Click thumbnails for larger images.

Yaka Chief - Muela Buana Village - Photographer Eliot Elisofon

Example B

Example B has made use of an unusual choice of bead colours and the result is stunning. The entire surface is beaded with tubular glass trade beads, including flared status knobs and horns. The beads were traded between 1900 and 1940 and can be found in the entire region. Most likely they are of Czechoslovakia origin.

Click thumbnails for larger images.

BaSotho Hat - Sotho Hat - Ba Sotho Hat

South Africa - Lesotho

Modianyeoe

J R Ivy Album Collection - Basutoland

Sotho hats have been worn by Suto-Chuana - Setswana speakers for centuries.

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J R Ivy Album Collection - Basutoland - Circa 1940

Men wove the hats from plant fiber. Note the abstract shapes surmounting a completed hat placed on the ground to the hat makers left - (right side of the picture).

Click Thumbnails for Larger Pictures

Our example is mounted on a custom made stand. (right image)

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European influence altered Sotho cap finals. Over time, the "crown" fashioned modianyeoe developed. It came to represent status and prestige - as well as displayed skilled talent.

Duggan-Cronin - The Southern Basotho - Circa 1930 J R Ivy Album Collection - Basutoland - Circa 1940

Plate LIX of Duggan-Cronin's "The Bantu Tribes of South Africa - The Suto-Chuana Tribes" makes reference that the function of the hat was to deflect rain and that a persons blanket was drawn up around the neck in wet weather.

Mbukushu Wig - Circa 1920

Botswana - Namibia - Southern Angola

Mambukush Mampukush Mbukushi Humbukush

Mbukushu Woman - Botswana - Okavango

Mbukushu 'Humbukush' women wore removable wigs as coiffeurs. They were constructed from leather and plant fiber, often the roots of the Baobab tree. Wigs were covered with ochre, animal fat and decorated with beads, buttons and shells. We have heard them refered to as Dishukeka Chikeka, Thihukeka, Mamburundu and Ihiho.

Coiffures of this age are rare as they were in fashion during a period when the Mbukushu were seldom visited. It is decorated with Venetian glass beads that predate1920.

Click Thumbnails for Larger Images

Circa 1920 - Mbukushu - Ivy's Albums - Local Court

This Mbukushu wig is one of the most highly decorated examples we know of. It was rediscovered in Austria, with a connection to German South West African missions. In all likelihood, the wig was made in Angola and collected in the Caprivi under German colonial rule.

Galerie Ezakwantu

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Central and Southern African Tribal Art

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