The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Hat

by 1928

Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu-style maker

Plant fibers and dye
Overall: 9.6 cm (3 3/4 in.); Diameter of top: 17.1 cm (6 3/4 in.)
Gift of the African Art Sponsors 1929.356
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This woven hat looks brand new because it was one of the many items the business-savvy chief of Ekibondo had artists and artisans make for the foreigners who passed through his village.
  • 1928
    Purchased by Paul Travis on behalf of the African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players in Ekibondo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (then-Belgian Congo)
    1928
    The African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players
    1929–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Boger, Ann C. et al. Paul B. Travis Africa 1927-1928. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. PP. 32–33, 46
    2 12/3/1928 letter to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History from Hazel Mountain Walker (Gilpin Players, president) and Harry E. Davis (African Art Sponsors, president) reproduced on p. 54 of Adams, Henry et al. Paul Travis 1891-1975. Cleveland Artists Foundation, 2001.
  • Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
  • {{cite web|title=Hat|url=false|author=|year=by 1928|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.356