Three:
20th c.
Quilted cotton, buttons, beads
9 1/2" x 8"
20th c.
Quilted cotton, buttons, quill attachment
11" x 14"
20th c.
Quilted cotton, buttons, fiber, bird bone
21" x 8 3/4" x 4"
Provenance
Allan Stone Collection, New York
The Lega live in the rain forests of the eastern Congo region. They comprise numerous subgroups that are collectively linked through Bwami, an association divided into a hierarchy of levels that serves as the political, social, economic, religious and moral authority of Lega society. As they achieve each each level, members are presented with insignia, including hats. The hat can be worn as part of daily attire or on special occasions. The materials from which a hat is made as well as the objects that are attached to it signify a Bwami member's position within the association. Hats decorated with cowrie shells, signifying wealth, and elephant tails, signifying strength, are usually worn by men who have reached kindi, the highest level of Bwami. During certain kindi rituals, an initiate's wife may wear his hat while carrying her own. Buttons, which began to replace cowrie shells in the 1940s, cover the hats worn by women who reach the highest level of Bwami. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Collections, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

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