19th c FULANI CONICAL WOVEN FIBER HAT AFRICAN TRIBAL ARTIFACT BASKET VALUED $500. Shipped with USPS.

Item Type: Grass Hat

Item Professionally Assessed: Yes, see final photo

Auction Estimate: $400-500 USD

Item Description from appraisal: The basket is an African cone woven hat and is referred to as a Fulani hat from the Fulani people of West Africa. The hat is made of natural and dyed grasses. The African Lega and Mossi tribes wove basket hats very similar to Fulani hats. The patterns on the basket hat are seen on the interior and exterior of the hat. The basket is triangular in shape and has a small vertical protrusion on the bottom. The rolled rim of the basket is a tan color with vertical overlapping weave with geometric shapes in a cream color of X's and diamond shapes with open center crosses encircling the rolled rim. The body of the basket has spaced wide bands in colors of natural and dark brown colors.

The Fulani hat is a coned fiber hat. It is typically worn by the Woodabe, a nomadic cattle-herder sub-group of the Fulani. This hat is often worn above a turban. Most Fulani hats are made of natural fibers and leather and are sometimes embellished with cowrie shells.

Item Size: approx 7 inches tall and 8.5-9 inches in diameter

Country or Region: West Africa, "Fulani, also called Peul or Fulbe, a primarily Muslim people scattered throughout many parts of West Africa, from Lake Chad, in the east, to the Atlantic coast. They are concentrated principally in Nigeria, Mali, Guinea, Cameroon, Senegal, and Niger."

Item Age: circa mid- to late 19th century

Ships ASAP! Thanks