Cap of a courtier

According to the collector's information, the hat is a 'prince's hat' and was worn as a badge of honour in the Lower Congo. According to the information on the N.A.M. map, the hat was collected together with three other similar hats and belongs to one of the 'prince's cloaks' under the numbers A-10958, 11182, 11183, 11184, 11186 and 11187.\The (state) hat was used by the Kongo, Vili and Yombe from Congo. The acceptance of a certain office also meant that one received a hat (mpu), symbol of the office. \The heads of provinces, districts, etc., were appointed by the king himself and received from his hands the hat belonging to the office. The bonnets are not only worn as symbols of high status but are in themselves objects to which reverence is paid, as they are powerful religious objects. The direct function of the bonnets is to indicate the distinction between the people and their rulers in a hierarchical society. The basis of the obedience shown by the people to the higher positions is based on the fact that the bonnets are generally believed to be sacred or magical objects. This makes those who wear bonnets leaders, empowered by supernatural powers.‖ The king was chosen by an assembly of elders or 'electors', from the nobility or from the sons of the deceased king. Supernatural powers were attributed to the king, on which the prosperity of the kingdom depended. Kings are of divine origin, i.e. they rule in accordance with a divine right. They are not divine as persons, but the office is. And this fact is expressed by the honor paid to the royal dignity signs, such as the hat. The hat is also worn as a protection against evil forces and spirits, among others at the Sundi while drinking palm wine.The hat, as a sign of dignity, passed from its possessor to his successor after death. When a chief died, a statuette was made of him complete with cap. The hat was not transferred to his successor until after the memorial ceremony, about one year after his death (Gibson and McGurk, 1977).‖ Given the similarity to Gibson (1977: 36), one could say that this is a tall cap of the Vili of Yombe.‖ The artistic skill of raffia weaving was recognized by the Portuguese as early as the early 16th century. Such textile products soon became a commodity and found a place in the European cabinets of curiosities of the 17th century. Hats such as these were made by special milliners and were only worn by members of the royal court. On pain of death, the weavers were forbidden to sell the hats to others (Clarke, 1998:27). The woven items were not only used as clothing, pillows and bags but were an important part of grave goods for important people.‖ Among the Congo and related groups in DR Congo, hats function as symbols of status and authority. The 'mpu' as a symbol of leadership is evident from the name for village chief: mfumu a mpu, chief of the cap (Gibson and McGurk, 1977:73). A village chief leads the political, legal and economic activities. He also performs an important ritual function and is responsible for maintaining good relations with ancestors for the benefit of the community. \As woven raffia textiles soon became popular with Europeans, such hats and other textiles were soon made for export. As early as the 17th century, they were given a place in European curiosity cabinets, along with Afro-Portuguese ivory objects (carved teeth, etc.). Hats like these were made by special makers and only used by members of the royal court. The Kongo, as specialists in raffia weaving, were replaced by the Kuba (Stepan, 2001:26).‖ The hat is made from raffia, which are fibres from the leaves of the pineapple plant. Gibson and McGurk (1977) mention these leaves, those of the banana tree, cotton, grass and baobab bark as the materials used in the manufacture of bonnets by the Kongo and Mbundu. The outer surface of the leaves is removed by passing them under a knife held against a board.The preparation of the raffia fibres is probably done in the following way:One makes an incision at the base of the petiole, the outer surface is then pulled off the leaf into one large sheet, which is light green in colour and translucent when fresh. Dried in the sun, the sheet takes on a brown opaque color. The sheet is then split. This can be done with the aid of a comb, whose teeth consist of strips cut from the veins of the raffia leaf.‖ Before knotting, the fibers were probably twisted together.‖ The hat is put on in a spiral shape, working from the center to the edge. Most bonnets of this type were made using a single thread, to which new threads were undoubtedly attached as the work progressed. \After starting with a narrow, central ring as a starting point, the free part of the thread is passed through part of the previously made row. The stitch used at each stage varies from hat to hat, often even within the same hat. All caps are made by means of loops or knots. The two most common stitches used in the saturation of the large sections of bonnets are the 'half twist looping' and the 'one-and-a-half twist looping' (Gibson and McGurk, 1977: 82). Another type of stitch, particularly common at the edges, is the 'lateral looping'.ith regard to a hat of the same type as this object, the literature also mentions the use of the 'slip-knot' and a variation of this with narrow open spaces; the vertical loops are gathered into bundles in groups of two or three and tied together with two or three overhand knots.Ó The application of patterns is done by means of a number of different techniques. In a number of Kongo bonnets geometric motifs can be found, consisting of raised knots or diagonal lines. This motif is also present on this hat. The diagonal lines are made with simple looping, while another stitch forms the background. The diagonal line is high or low depending on whether the twist of the loops (S or Z) that form the line corresponds to or opposes the direction of the diagonal. The 'raised knots' are variations of 'simple looping'.‖ The top of the hat is knotted in ajour pattern. The rest is divided into diagonal lozenges with small diamond motifs, creating triangles.