- Pointed hat
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Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear of a wide range of cultures throughout history. Though often suggesting an ancient Indo-European tradition, they were also traditionally worn by women of Lapland, the Japanese, the Mi'kmaq people of Atlantic Canada, and the Huastecs of Veracruz and Aztec (illustrated e.g. in Codex Mendoza). The Kabiri of New Guinea have the diba, a pointed hat glued together.[1]
Contents
Bronze Age
The conical golden hats of Bronze Age Central Europe were probably a ceremonial accessory worn by the priesthood. See also horned helmet.
Iron Age
Textile analysis of the Tarim Mummies has shown some similarities to the Iron Age civilizations of Europe dating from 800 BC, including woven twill and tartan patterns strikingly similar to tartans from Northern Europe. One unusual find was a distinctively pointed hat:
- Yet another female - her skeleton found beside the remains of a man - still wore a terrifically tall, conical hat just like those we depict on witches riding broomsticks at Halloween or on medieval wizards intent at their magical spells. (Barber 1999:200)
Pointed hats were also worn in ancient times by Saka (Scythians), and are shown on Hindu temples and in Hittite reliefs. The name of the Scythian tribe of the tigrakhauda (Orthocorybantians) is a bahuvrihi compound literally translating to "people with pointed hats".
The Hallstatt culture Warrior of Hirschlanden wears a pointed hat or helmet.
Hephaestus, the Cabeiri as well as Odysseus are traditionally pictured wearing a Pilos, or woolen conical hat.
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Relief in Hattusa, probably depicting Suppiluliuma II.
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The "golden man" of the Issyk kurgan.
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Odysseus wearing a Pilos
Middle Ages
The 9th century Cumans are reported to have fought wearing pointed hats.
Originating from the Japanese Heian period, the kazaori eboshi (風折烏帽子) was worn by aristocrats to indicate rank. Still worn today for ceremonial purposes, this black,[2] linen hat is used during a Samurai's ceremony in attaining manhood.[3]
The Papal tiara in the Middle Ages is sometimes shown as more pointed than in more recent centuries, though also shown with no point. Mitra papalis is a type of conch named after the papal mitre for its form.
Following the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, Jews were forced to wear distinctive clothing. This included the pointed Jewish hat (or "Judenhut") already worn by Jews, a piece of clothing probably imported from the Islamic world and perhaps before that from Persia.[4]
Popular among Burgundian noblewomen in the 15th century was a type of conical headgear now called a hennin.[5]
The whirling dervishes from the 13th century wore hats similar to the hennins, and the Ottoman Janissaries wore similar headgear to show their veneration for Hadji Bektash, founder of a Sufi order.
Conical hats were also popular in late medieval Vijayanagar, India.
The term dunce cap is only attested from 1840, but according to Cecil Adams, 14th century theologian John Duns Scotus recommended the wearing of conical hats to stimulate learning.
Modern times
Courirs de Mardi Gras in 2010
The Spitzhut is a traditional kind of headgear in Bavaria.
Pointed hoods were used by various secret orders and Catholic lay confraternities for processions, e.g. the Semana Santa of Sevilla who wore the Capirote. These were later adopted by the Ku Klux Klan.
The term Pointed Hat was used as a derogatory term towards the Pope and the Papal Tiara. The term has lost its notoriety after the Vatican II discontinued the tradition of wearing the papal tiara.
Pointed hats are still worn in the rural Louisiana Mardi Gras celebrations by the Cajuns, the Courir de Mardi Gras, where they are known as capuchons.[6]
Folklore and fiction
Golden hatClassical pointed hats are worn by the dwarfs, witches and wizards of European myth. Also seen on: Garden gnomes, Smurfs, Gandalf, Merlin, Link.
Conical hats
History
Existence of the conical hat is known as early as the Bronze Age in Middle East and Central Europe. One example is the golden hat worn by members of the priesthood, likely as a ceremonial accessory. In Ancient Greece, the pilos was a common conical travelling hat. Popular among Burgundian noblewomen in the 15th century was a type of conical headgear now called a hennin.[5] Conical hats were also popular in late medieval Vijayanagar, India.
Types
Golden hat
Main article: Golden hatThis type of hat is a very specific and rare type of archaeological artifact from Bronze Age Central Europe.
CapuchonCapuchon
Main article: CapuchonA capuchon is a ceremonial hat worn during the Mardi Gras celebration in the Cajun areas of southwestern Louisiana, known as the Courir de Mardi Gras.
Party hatParty hat
Main article: Party hatA party hat is generally a playful conical hat made with a rolled up piece of thin cardboard, usually with designs printed on the outside and a long string of elastic going from one side of the cone's bottom to another to secure the cone to one's head.
CapiroteCapirote
Main article: CapiroteHistorically, the capirote was a cardboard cone that flagellants in Spain would use. It was also used during capital punishment in Spain, and also during an Inquisition, where the condemned person would be forced to wear one and be put under public humiliation.
Jewish hatJewish hat
Main article: Jewish hatThe Jewish hat was often white or yellow, worn by Jews in Medieval Europe and some of the Islamic world.
Dunce capDunce cap
Main article: Dunce capIn popular culture, the dunce cap is typically made of paper and often marked with a D or the word "dunce", and given to schoolchildren to wear as punishment by public humiliation for misbehaviour and, as the name implies, stupidity.
Conical Asian hatConical Asian hat
Main article: Conical Asian hatKnown as a sedge hat, rice hat, paddy hat or coolie hat, this simple style of hat is often made of straw. It originated in East and Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea, Cambodia, Philippines, and Indonesia.
HeninHennin
Main article: HenninMost commonly worn in Burgundy and France by women of the nobility, the hennin appears from about 1430 onwards. Later, though, this hat spread more widely, especially in the truncated form. Typically, the hennin was 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) high, generally accompanied by a veil that usually emerged from the top of the cone and was allowed to fall onto the woman's shoulders.
Tantour
TantourMain article: TantourSimilar to the hennin, this woman's headdress was popular in the Eastern Mediterranean during the 19th century.[7][8] The most splendid tantours made of gold reaching as high as 30 inches. Some were encrusted with gems and pearls. The tantour was held in by a ribbons tied around the head. A silk scarf was wound around the base with a white veil attached to the peak.[9]
Phrygian capPhrygian cap
Main article: Phrygian capThe Phrygian cap is a soft cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia, and in modern times with Smurfs.
PileusPileus
Main article: Pileus (hat)Predecessor to the Phrygian cap, the pileus was, in Ancient Greece and Rome, a brimless, felt cap, somewhat similar to a fez.
Sugar loaf
This very tall, tapering hat was first worn in medieval times. Its name comes from the loaves into which sugar was formed at that time.[10] The sugar loaf hat is the stereotypical pointed black hat worn by witches.
See also
References
- ^ Angeleimter Spitzhut oder "diba" Kabiri (Neuguinea) (German)
- ^ "Japan Regional Information". Asia-planet.net. http://www.asia-planet.net/japan/kyushu.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ "冠と烏帽子". Kariginu.jp. http://www.kariginu.jp/kikata/2-2.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ Jewish hat article
- ^ a b hat — FactMonster.com
- ^ "Mardi Gras in Rural Acadiana". http://web.lsue.edu/acadgate/mardmain.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
- ^ 19th Century Lebanese Princess
- ^ "The Tantour or Shihabbiyeen". Trmkt.com. http://www.trmkt.com/tantour.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ "Origin of Levantine Costumes". Almashriq.hiof.no. http://almashriq.hiof.no/general/600/640/646/costumes_of_the_Levant/origin.html. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- ^ "Types of hats Alphabetic List N - Z". Millinerytechniques.com. http://www.millinerytechniques.com/types-of-hats-N-to-Z.html. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
- Barber, A.W. (1999). The Mummies of Ürümchi. Macmillan, London.
External links
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