Hat

Note: The following text is taken from a 19th-century collection catalog and, in its language and perspective, partially reflects colonial thought patterns. We present the text in its original version to make the collection's history transparent and promote a critical examination of the colonial legacy. Certain terms and formulations may be perceived as problematic today. A 2009 research project concluded that most descriptions are factually correct and still usable; only a few details were found to be inaccurate or incorrect. The results of this project were published in the following collection catalog: khm-wmw-tm-library.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1457155265"325-326. Hats - "Topi".The form of these two hats is quite peculiar, different from all the others. It is a hemisphere, the whole hat is like a deep baking bowl, and as unattractive as possible. This type is a specialty only of the natives who work for the Europeans as coachmen on Batavia. They are also of woven bamboo, lacquered on the outside in different ways, gilded and painted. One of the present ones is lacquered red and decorated with broad black rings, the other is covered completely on its outside with gold paint.Such a hat, shining in the sun, is the pride of a fine native coachman. All of the hats described here have a ring of braided rattan or bamboo attached on the inside which is usually wound with cloth or cotton so that the hat will sit securely. Most of the present hats have had their rings removed for easier packing and these have now been lost."Translation of: Czurda, F. A. J. (1883). Catalog mit Erklärungen der Etnografischen Privatsammlung des Dr. F. A. J. Czurda in Postelberg (Böhmen). (p. 66-67). Wien, Wilhelm Braumüller