Category: Head Covering

NOW: Red hat with tassel – 9318

If you are in Berlin this week, you can catch the Nalbound Object of the Week on display in the Auf unbetretenen Wegen: Georg Schweinfurth und die Ägyptologie exhibition at the Neues Museum before it closes on the 8th of February 2026. Held in the collections of the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, this hat was one of the first nalbound artifacts that I learned about when starting my explorations of nalbinding throughout the world.

Inv. 9318. Photo Credit: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst /CC BY-SA 4.0

Object: Red Hat with tassel – 9318

Description: A lovely red nalbound hat with a point extending to a multi-stranded tassel. Two thirds of the point are covered with blue and yellow cross-knit looping worked in a graphic pattern and supported underneath with a linen/cotton cloth. The red hat section is worked in a very open density for the gauge. It is smooth on the outside, but on the inside there are loose strands of the yarn fibers leading to an almost thrummed or brushed interior appearance. There are two fine yellow threads loosely sewn around the opening of the hat. Length x Width: 63 x 24 cm1 Height of the crown is 18.5 cm.2

It is interesting to note that the tassel is no longer attached to the hat as evidenced by examining the various photographs taken over time showing the hat in a different orientation to the tassel. The hat is currently sewn to its conservation backing with the side that was under the head currently showing. The photograph published with Bush’s article shows the front.

Dated to: Originally thought to be 9th to 10th century CE,3 it has since been radiocarbon dated to between the 11th and early 13th century CE. The museum catalog entry states it was radiocarbon dated to 1036–1215 CE.4 Fluck and Mälck’s article indicates the radiocarbon dating dates it between 1040 and 1220 CE.5

Find location: Arsinoë (Krokodilopolis)6 now in the city of Faiyum7

Material: The cap is made of a red wool yarn S-plied of two unspun threads; possibly mohair wool as it is fine and hairy. The tube section is blue and yellow silk threads, both S-plied of two unspun threads. Inside the tube is a linen warp cotton weft woven fabric. The tassel is bundled linen threads (S-spun) and green or yellow silk threads.8

Stitch(es) used:
Hat: looped needle netting Type IIIa (which is Hald’s designation of Mammen stitch). Confirmed to be F2 UOO/UUOO, Mammen stitch, by Anne Marie Decker based on photographs provided by the museum on March 12, 2019.
Tube: Fluck and Mälck state single needle technique.9 Hald calls it mesh stitch,10 but diagrams it correctly. These days we call it Z-crossed Cross-knit Looping (F1B1 O) which has been confirmed by Anne Marie Decker based on photographs provided by the museum on March 12, 2019.

Inventory number: 9318

Current location: in the collections of the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst but on display in the Neues Museum during the Auf unbetretenen Wegen: Georg Schweinfurth und die Ägyptologie exhibition May 23, 2025 to February 8, 2026.

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://id.smb.museum/object/2016749/m%C3%BCtze

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Bush, Nancy; ‘Nålbinding – From the Iron Age to Today’ in Piecework Vol. IX N. 3, May / June 2001; Interweave Press, 2001; pgs. 28-32.

Claßen-Büttner, Ulrike. Nalbinding – What in the World Is That? History and Technique of an Almost Forgotten Handicraft. Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2015. ISBN 978-3-7347-7905-3.

Fluck, Cäcilia, and Kathrin Mälck. “Radiocarbon analysed textiles in the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin” in Methods of dating ancient textiles of the 1st millennium AD from Egypt and neighbouring countries : proceedings of the 4th meeting of the study group ‘Textiles from the Nile Valley’, Antwerp, 16-17 April 2005, edited by Antoine De Moor and Cäcilia Fluck, 150-165. Tielt (Belgium): Lannoo Publishers, 2007. ISBN 9789020970982.

Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs And Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Publications of The National Museum of Denmark; Archaeological Historical Series XXI. Translated by Jean Olsen. Copenhagen: Fyens Stiftsbogtrykkeri, Copenhagen, 1980. ISBN 87-480-0312-3. pg. 308, fig. 355 and pg. 309.

Schrenk, Sabine, ed. Textiles in Situ: Their Find Spots in Egypt and Neighbouring Countries in the First Millenium CE. Riggisberg: Abegg-Stiftung, 2006. ISBN 3-905014-29-7

Photographs:

Inv. 9318.
Photo Credit: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst /CC BY-SA 4.0
Detail of the cross-knit looping tube on Inv. 9318.
Photo Credit: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst /CC BY-SA 4.0
This photo was taken before the most recent conservation and mounting and thus shows the side that would have been towards the front. Bush, Nancy; ‘Nålbinding – From the Iron Age to Today’ in Piecework Vol. IX N. 3, May / June 2001; Interweave Press, 2001; pg. 28. Photograph courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Preußischer Kulturbesitz,
Museum für Spätantike und Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin, Germany.
Photograph by A. Voigt.

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://id.smb.museum/object/2016749/m%C3%BCtze Accessed 2/2/2026. Hald states the circumference is 48 cm which corresponds to the width of the hat when flat as measured in the museum catalog entry. Petra Linscheid, 2018, Object Description in the museum catalog says the circumference is 47.5 cm. ↩︎
  2. Petra Linscheid, 2018, Object Description at https://id.smb.museum/object/2016749/m%C3%BCtze Accessed 2/2/2026. Hald states the crown is 17 cm. Her measurements would have been taken prior to the most recent conservation and mounting. ↩︎
  3. Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs And Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Publications of The National Museum of Denmark; Archaeological Historical Series XXI. Translated by Jean Olsen. Copenhagen: Fyens Stiftsbogtrykkeri, Copenhagen, 1980. ISBN 87-480-0312-3. pg. 308, fig. 355 and pg. 309. ↩︎
  4. https://id.smb.museum/object/2016749/m%C3%BCtze Accessed 2/2/2026 ↩︎
  5. Fluck, Cäcilia, and Kathrin Mälck. “Radiocarbon analysed textiles in the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin” in Methods of dating ancient textiles of the 1st millennium AD from Egypt and neighbouring countries : proceedings of the 4th meeting of the study group ‘Textiles from the Nile Valley’, Antwerp, 16-17 April 2005, edited by Antoine De Moor and Cäcilia Fluck, 150-165. Tielt (Belgium): Lannoo Publishers, 2007. ISBN 9789020970982. pg. 158. ↩︎
  6. https://id.smb.museum/object/2016749/m%C3%BCtze Accessed 2/2/2026. Hald had erroneously listed it as found in Antinoupolis and that was repeated in Bush’s article. This was corrected in Cäcilia Fluck and Kathrin Mälck’s article “Radiocarbon analysed textiles in the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin” ↩︎
  7. Pleiades is a gazetteer of ancient places that is very useful for locating find locations that may only be recorded under the ancient location name. R. Müller Wollermann, Brady Kiesling, Sean Gillies, Jen Thum, Jeffrey Becker, H. Kopp, Herbert Verreth, B. Siewert-Mayer, Mark Depauw, R. Talbert, Johan Åhlfeldt, Adam Prins, W. Röllig, Tom Elliott, DARMC, Francis Deblauwe, and Eric Kansa, ‘Krokodilopolis/Ptolemais Euergetis: a Pleiades place resource’, Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places, 2025 <https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/736948> [accessed: 03 February 2026] ↩︎
  8. Fluck, Cäcilia, and Kathrin Mälck. “Radiocarbon analysed textiles in the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin” in Methods of dating ancient textiles of the 1st millennium AD from Egypt and neighbouring countries : proceedings of the 4th meeting of the study group ‘Textiles from the Nile Valley’, Antwerp, 16-17 April 2005, edited by Antoine De Moor and Cäcilia Fluck, 150-165. Tielt (Belgium): Lannoo Publishers, 2007. ISBN 9789020970982. pg. 158. Hald, and thus Bush’s article, stated the hat itself was also silk, not just the tube. That has since been corrected in the more recent publications. ↩︎
  9. Fluck, Cäcilia, and Kathrin Mälck. “Radiocarbon analysed textiles in the Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin” in Methods of dating ancient textiles of the 1st millennium AD from Egypt and neighbouring countries : proceedings of the 4th meeting of the study group ‘Textiles from the Nile Valley’, Antwerp, 16-17 April 2005, edited by Antoine De Moor and Cäcilia Fluck, 150-165. Tielt (Belgium): Lannoo Publishers, 2007. ISBN 9789020970982. ↩︎
  10. Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs And Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Publications of The National Museum of Denmark; Archaeological Historical Series XXI. Translated by Jean Olsen. Copenhagen: Fyens Stiftsbogtrykkeri, Copenhagen, 1980. ISBN 87-480-0312-3. pgs. 284 and 309. ↩︎

NOW: Diamond hat with volute tree straps – 46-77-30/9440

There is a whole range of Peruvian hats with these integral ear-flap straps as seen in this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week. And yet, this one is particularly striking with its volute shaped trees. The image is unfortunately not helpful with clarifying what colors are used. The object description says dark brown and tan, but the inventory description says blue and gold. Both would be striking, but is there anyone near the Peabody that can answer?

Cap, looped. Object number: 46-77-30/9440
Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University. https://peabody.harvard.edu/ Request reproduction rights from https://peabody.harvard.edu/rights-and-reproductions

Object: Cap, looped

Description: A dark brown and tan (or blue and gold) diamond lattice patterned hat with crosses in the diamonds and a volute wavy tree on the ear-flaps that extend from the top of the hat down to long fringes. Overall: 52 x 17.5 x 6.5 cm (20 1/2 x 6 7/8 x 2 9/16 in.)1

Dated to: Early Intermediate Period?2

Find location: Loma?, Peru3

Material: camelid4

Stitch(es) used: Looped.5 Z-crossed Cross-knit Looping (as determined by Anne Marie Decker based on the photograph)

Object number: 46-77-30/9440

Current location: Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/81676?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=66

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/81676?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=66 ↩︎
  2. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/81676?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=66 Estimated to 200 BCE to 600 CE as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodization_of_pre-Columbian_Peru ↩︎
  3. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/81676?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=66 ↩︎
  4. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/81676?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=66 ↩︎
  5. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/81676?ctx=4b5a04a42bb2e1beb986339955f300990aa07639&idx=66 ↩︎

NOW: Chevron patterned hat – 46-77-30/10427

This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is a striking Peruvian hat worked in Cross-knit Looping in a distinctive chevron pattern. While there are quite a few hats found in Peru, both in Simple Looping and in Cross-knit Looping, this is the first I’ve come across with this Chevron patterning.

Cap, looped, circular. Object number: 46-77-30/10427
Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. https://peabody.harvard.edu/
Request reproduction rights from https://peabody.harvard.edu/rights-and-reproductions

Object: Chevron patterned hat

Description: A dark brown and tan chevron patterned hat broken into 4 quarters with alternating chevrons. Overall: 16 x 17 cm (6 5/16 x 6 11/16 in.)1

Dated to: Chancay? culture2

Find location: Zapallan, Peru3

Material: camelid4

Stitch(es) used: Z-crossed5 Cross-knit Looping6

Object number: 46-77-30/10427

Current location: Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/90463?ctx=3895f836dffa87d819a31a9db21ff30320b3e15c&idx=72

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/90463?ctx=3895f836dffa87d819a31a9db21ff30320b3e15c&idx=72 ↩︎
  2. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/90463?ctx=3895f836dffa87d819a31a9db21ff30320b3e15c&idx=72. Chancey culture would put this hat in the Late Intermediate Period, 1000 CE – 1476 CE, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodization_of_pre-Columbian_Peru ↩︎
  3. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/90463?ctx=3895f836dffa87d819a31a9db21ff30320b3e15c&idx=72 ↩︎
  4. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/90463?ctx=3895f836dffa87d819a31a9db21ff30320b3e15c&idx=72 ↩︎
  5. As determined from the photograph by Anne Marie Decker ↩︎
  6. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/90463?ctx=3895f836dffa87d819a31a9db21ff30320b3e15c&idx=72 ↩︎

NOW: Fragment from St. Audoen’s church, Dublin – E497:2428.325

This week I get to share with you the excitement of finding out about a rare find in a church I once visited. Some regions have preserved many finds, but textiles in Ireland are relatively rare and nalbound ones more so. Thus this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is the second known nalbound artifact from Ireland. The fragments were found in the 12th century occupational debris. Photos have been published this year in Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art by Elizabeth Wincott Heckett if you would like to see them. There’s also a nice diagram in 2006 Archeological Monograph on the excavations.

St Audoen’s Church & Visitor center when we visited on April 27, 2014. Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker

Object: Two main fragments. Usage unknown, but possibly a sock or cap.

Description: The larger fragment is 30 cm long by 8 cm high1 showing the remains of 6 rows. The smaller fragment is 6 cm long by 5 cm high2 with remains of 3+ rows. The thickness of both is c. 2mm.3 Original use as a mitten was ruled out as the length of the larger fragment would exceed the circumference appropriate for a mitten and is more suitable for a sock or a piece of a cap.4 There is no evidence of either intentional or wear fulling.5

Dated to: 12th century6 CE

Find location: Found in the 12th century occupation debris associated with timber structures during excavation of St. Audoen’s church, Cornmarket, Dublin, Ireland.7

Material: A dark brown, naturally colored, coarse, perhaps kemp-like, wool. No dye detected. The yarn has been combed and worsted spun in a medium to loose Z spin then two-plied with an S twist. The yarn is 1.5 mm in diameter.8

Stitch(es) used: uo o/u uoo F1 based on analysis of one of the outermost rows of loops.9 (Korgen)

Inventory number: E497:2428.325

Current location: Still tracking that down. The detailed catalog was lodged with the excavation archive in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Some of the items excavated at St Audoen’s remain there on display in their Visitor’s Centre.

Link to museum catalog or other data: none known

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2

Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716

1263

Photographs:

There are two photos by Peter Maloney © The Estate of Elizabeth Wincott Heckett included in Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art: Fig. 15.1 on page 228 and Fig. 15.2 on page 231.

There is also an archeological drawing contained the the archeological monograph, St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture, by Mary McMahon: Fig. 6.9 on page 74.

If you find this type of content interesting, please remember to follow the blog. You can also give one time donation at the link on this site or join my Patreon to support further research.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. 300 x 80mm. Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2 page 74 and republished in Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716. pg. 230 ↩︎
  2. 60 x 50mm. Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2 page 74 and republished in Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716. pg. 230 ↩︎
  3. Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2 page 75 and republished in Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716. pg. 232 ↩︎
  4. Ibid. pg. 75, and republished in Ibid. pg. 233 ↩︎
  5. Ibid. pg. 75, and republished in Ibid. pg. 231 ↩︎
  6. Ibid. pg. 74, and republished in Ibid. pg. 229 ↩︎
  7. Ibid. pg. 74, and republished in Ibid. pg. 229 ↩︎
  8. Ibid. pg. 75, and republished in Ibid. pg. 232 ↩︎
  9. Ibid. pg. 75, and republished in Ibid. pg. 232 ↩︎

NOW: Skolt Sámi hat 19278

I’ve been hoping to find Sámi nalbinding as there is so much nalbinding in the region, but finding Sámi specific nalbinding has been a bit of a challenge. Today’s Nalbound Object of the Week is a Skolt Sámi hat collected in 1933 that was brought to my attention by Ingela Lindberg Anderson after her trip to the National Museum of Denmark. As she was trying to find more information about some of the objects she had seen on display, she ran across this hat in the online catalog.

Skolt Sámi hat ObjectId 19278 Item number K.782
Photo credit: Mads Kildegaard Nielsen – Nationalmuseet, Danmark CC-BY-SA

Object: Skolt Sámi hat

Description: A light brown, natural colored, nalbound hat. The National Museum of Denmark provides the following measurements: Largest measurement 22 cm, Diameter 18 cm, Height 18 cm.1

Dated to: collected in 1933

Find location: The museum lists the location as “Samer – Suonikylä. Petsamo
Lapps, Finland.”2 This reflects the terminology of 1933 when the hat was collected. This region of the larger Sápmi is no longer within the borders of Finland as it was ceded to Russia in the Second World War.3

Material: wool4

Stitch(es) used: According to Margrethe Hald, the hat is worked in Långaryd stitch5, UOOOO/UUUUOO F1. However, the surface texture does not match that stitch determination. Further research should follow the Ethical Guidelines for Research Involving the Sámi People in Finland.

Inventory number: ObjectId 19278 Item number K.782

Current location: Nationalmuseet, Danmark, Ethnographic Collection

Link to museum catalog or other data:

https://samlinger.natmus.dk/es/object/19278

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs And Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Publications of The National Museum of Denmark; Archaeological Historical Series XXI. Translated by Jean Olsen. Copenhagen: Fyens Stiftsbogtrykkeri, Copenhagen, 1980. ISBN 87-480-0312-3. Pg. 298.

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://samlinger.natmus.dk/es/object/19278 Accessed 13 August 2024 ↩︎
  2. https://samlinger.natmus.dk/es/object/19278 Accessed 13 August 2024 ↩︎
  3. My thanks to Niina-Hannele Nuutinen for assistance with placing this location on a map and an introduction to the relocations that occurred in the region https://www.samimuseum.fi/saamjiellem/english/kolttaalue.html, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skolt_S%C3%A1mi and https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suonikyl%C3%A4 Accessed 18 August 2024 ↩︎
  4. https://samlinger.natmus.dk/es/object/19278 Accessed 13 August 2024 ↩︎
  5. Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs And Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Publications of The National Museum of Denmark; Archaeological Historical Series XXI. Translated by Jean Olsen. Copenhagen: Fyens Stiftsbogtrykkeri, Copenhagen, 1980. ISBN 87-480-0312-3. Pg. 298. ↩︎

NOW: Inca Wig Cap 1983.491.2

This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is another Incan wig Cap from Peru. Similar to the cap posted in late July, this is a stunning example with a beautiful set of braid wrapped ends that together make a zigzag pattern.

Cap Woven with Human Hair, 1983.491.2
Photo credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Public Domain

Object: Inca Wig Cap with zigzag braid wraps

Description: A cream colored cap with a broad brown stripe around the middle from which many brown human hair braids are hung. The braid ends are wrapped tightly in brightly colored wraps that form a zigzag pattern across the braids. This cap with braids is 28 inches long.1

Dated to: 14th – 16th century CE, Inca2

Find location: Peru

Material: Camelid & human hair3

Stitch(es) used: Z-crossed Simple Looping (Stitch determination by Anne Marie Decker based on photographs)

Inventory number: 1983.491.2

Current location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314614

Photographs:

A black and white photo of the Cap Woven with Human Hair, 1983.491.2, laid out flat.
Photo credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Public Domain

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314614 Accessed 13 August 2024 ↩︎
  2. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314614 Accessed 13 August 2024 ↩︎
  3. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314614 Accessed 13 August 2024 ↩︎

NOW: Inca Wig Cap 41-52-30/2948

Inca Wig Cap. Object number: 41-52-30/2948
Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. https://peabody.harvard.edu/
Request reproduction rights from https://peabody.harvard.edu/rights-and-reproductions

Another type of nalbound objects we see quite frequently in museums are wig caps from Inca era Peru. Thus, this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is an Inca wig cap. The skull cap portion is made using S-crossed Simple Looping.

Object: Inca Wig Cap

Description: A light colored skull cap with a narrower dark brown and a larger brown stripe around it with around 120 braids hanging from the lower edge. These 3 strand braids have multicolored, red, green, blue, white, brown, wrappings on their bottom half. Overall dimensions are 37 x 9 7/16 in. (94 x 24 cm).

Dated to: Late Horizon (1476-1532 CE), Inca1

Find location: South Coast of Nazca Province, Ica Region, Peru2

Material: The cap is made of three colors of z-2s cotton. The braids of dark colored human hair. The wraps around the braids are camelid yarn.3

Stitch(es) used: S-crossed Simple Looping4

Inventory number: Object Number 41-52-30/2948

Current location: Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0#

Inca Wig Cap. Object number: 41-52-30/2948
Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. https://peabody.harvard.edu/
Request reproduction rights from https://peabody.harvard.edu/rights-and-reproductions

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024 ↩︎
  2. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024 ↩︎
  3. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024 ↩︎
  4. Peabody Museum identifies this as Simple Looping https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/80239?ctx=ea4365b61d31e770c135b438be9348327e400170&idx=0# Accessed 22 July 2024. That the Simple Looping is S-crossed was determined by Anne Marie Decker based on the photograph provided. ↩︎

NOW: Wari Four-cornered Hat 1983.497.7

Sometimes nalbinding is combined with other techniques to make a artifact. My sincere thanks to Niina-Hannele Nuutinen for bringing this particular artifact to my attention. Generally the four-cornered hats of the Wari, from 8th-10th c. Peru, are knotted. This one is knotted with pile sides, but the top is Simple Looping. So this week’s Nalbound Object of the week is actually only partially nalbound.

1983.497.7 Wari four-cornered hat with Simple Looping top.
Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Public Domain CC0

Object: Wari Four-cornered Hat with Simple Looping top

Description: A four-cornered brightly colored hat made with knotted pile in a lozenge pattern. The four corners have colored tassels. The top is Simple Looping worked in four differently colored bands from the sides of the hat to the top. The hat is 5 1/2 inches high and 5 3/4 inches wide (14 × 14.6 cm).1

Dated to: 8th–10th century2

Find location: The Wari culture was centered in the central Peruvian highland valley of Ayacucho. Wari pile hats with provenance come from the south or central coast of Peru.3 The exact provenance of this hat is unspecified.

Material: camelid hair4

Stitch(es) used: Larkshead Knotting with supplementary pile sides5 with Z-crossed Simple Looping, F1 O, in for the top (Top stitch determination by Anne Marie Decker from photographs)

Inventory number: 1983.497.7

Current location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Frame, Mary. Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1990, pp. 18–19, pl. 8.

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624 Accessed 9 June 2024. Mary Frame gives different measurements, h. 15.2 cm; c. 50.2, in Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa. ↩︎
  2. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624 Accessed 9 June 2024 ↩︎
  3. Frame, Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa pg. 10 ↩︎
  4. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/314624 Accessed 9 June 2024 ↩︎
  5. Frame, Andean Four-Cornered Hats: Ancient Volumes: From the Collection of Arthur M. Bullowa pg. 28 ↩︎

NOW: Purple & White cap with Bird MAK/AS/P.70

Continuing the purple theme, this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week returns to Peru with another figural topped hat. This time we have a single bird topping a purple and white/natural striped child’s cap made of wool and cotton.

One of five photos, and an omnidirectional option, available on the Krzysztof Babraj (Archaeological Museum in Kraków‘s online catalog entry for this cap.
Photo: Małopolski Instytut Kultury w Krakowie – Public Domain

Object: Purple & White cap with Bird

Description: A small purple cap with two white/cream stripes of equal thickness that has a bird worked also in Simple Looping perched on top.

Dated to: 1000–1476 CE (Chancay culture)1

Find location: Necropolis of Ancon, Peru2

Material: wool and cotton3

Stitch(es) used: S-Crossed Simple Looping,4 B1 U, worked from the top to the brim (stitch determined from photograph by Anne Marie Decker)

Inventory number: MAK/AS/P.70 (received as a gift from the collection of Władysław Kluger from 1876.)

Current location: Krzysztof Babraj (Archaeological Museum in Kraków)

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/661

Photographs (if permissions allow): There is an omnidirectional view on the museum’s website where you can rotate the hat.

ECHO Historical Textile posted some beautiful photos of the cap (conserved? reconstructed?) on display that is clearly visibly purple and has less damage to the bird.

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/661 Accessed 27 May 2024 ↩︎
  2. https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/661 Accessed 27 May 2024 ↩︎
  3. https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/661 Accessed 27 May 2024. It says wool and cotton, but does not specify the animal from which the “wool” was obtained. ↩︎
  4. The museum catalog currently misidentifies the technique as “crochet, handsewing,” but the photos clearly show that it is S-crossed Simple Looping. ↩︎

NOW: Cap with Lizard T 10298

While preparing last week’s Nalbound Object of the Week, I discovered another fascinating piece of nalbinding in the MAK. This week brings us a new (to me) Peruvian cap with figural work on it. In this case, it’s a lizard! You will need to go to the MAK’s online catalog to see a photo, https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216, as the MAK’s photos are not CC or public domain.

Object: Cap with Lizard

Description: A brown cap with a row and the central top in cream and brown lizard with cream highlights standing on top.

Dated to: 1400-1532 CE1

Find location: Peru2

Material: Camelid, plant fiber, cotton3

Stitch(es) used: S-Crossed Simple Looping,4 B1 U (stitch determined from photograph by Anne Marie Decker)

Inventory number: T 10298

Current location: Museum für angewandte Kunst MAK (Museum of Applied Arts)

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎
  2. https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎
  3. https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎
  4. The MAK specifies the technique used as “Schlingtechnik” [looping technique], but does not specify which particular variant. https://sammlung.mak.at/sammlung_online?id=collect-100216 Accessed 31 March 2024. ↩︎