Product Description

Antique Sumba Peci Hat

Material: Horn
Style: East Sumba, Indonesia
Size: Height 7 cm, Diameter 16 cm
Order Number: MHSASPH1

Sumba occupies about 11,000 square kilometres and consists of large limestone plateaux covered with rough grasses and broken by valleys and hills. Thousands of horses live in the vast grasslands of East Sumba. Horses and cattle comprise wealth for the aristocrats in this dry, stony country, which is difficult for agriculture.

The peci is a cap worn by Moslem men. It is a truncated cone, usually made of black or embroidered felt, cotton or velvet. It is worn on formal, religious and state occasions, as well as weddings and funerals.

The name peci is probably derived from the Dutch word petje meaning ‘small hat’. The black cap was modelled on Kemal Ataturk’s fez, but without its Islamic associations. Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia, made it popular. He promoted it as a symbol of nationalist identity for men, whatever their religion.

This one, made of horn, belonged to the head man of a village in East Sumba.

Mid 20th century.

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).