hat; head-dress; religious/ritual equipment BM-As1894-0310.4

Period:Unknown Production date:1894 (circa)
Materials:wool, silk, cotton, cardboard,
Technique:satin, plain weave,
Subjects:buddhism
Dimensions:Length: 74 centimetres Width: 33 centimetres

Description:
A monk’s / lama’s hat / head-dress; deepest at centre front, tapering towards back. Made from a yellow wool fabric with a tight, close pile on woven (?) ground; technique? Yellow satin silk flaps at back (edged with red wool (?) woven cloth on three sides); partially stitched together along top edge. Lined with tabby cotton cloth, natural cream (main) and red (flaps). Crest made of strands of pale yellow woollen yarn, longest at mid-top; stiffened with thin card. Lightly stitched to form three horizontal layers.
IMG


Comments:British and Medieval Dept. Register, v.7; Ethno. Temporary Register,1861-1921. No Ethno. registration Slip.From B&M Register “the DD’s hat. Tashilhunapo”. See: http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/ ‘Crested yellow woollen hat commonly worn by monks of the Yellow Church. Its introduction is attributed to d’Ge-‘dun grub-pa (1391-1475). The height of the crest is said to rise according to educational qualification. … Writers have compared [it] with plumed helmets of classical antiquity. It was worn on many occasions and generally out of doors.’ [Zwalf 1981: 133 – 4]