hat; head-dress; religious/ritual equipment BM-As1933-0508.77

Period:Unknown Production date:20thC (early?)
Materials:wool, cotton, silk,
Technique:woven, plain weave,
Subjects:buddhism
Dimensions:Length: 55 centimetres Width: 25 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? Red weft (?) faced tabby cotton flaps at back, partially stitched together along top edge; decorated with three small blue silk tassels. Bottom edge of head-dress piped with red tabby cotton cloth. Lined with tabby cotton cloth, natural cream (main) and pale blue (flaps). Crest made of strands of cream/pale yellow woollen yarn, longest at mid-top. Stitched tightly towards outer edge to produce long pile effect.
IMG


Comments: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]