Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
menu

Headdress

Headdress

20th century

Ostrich feathers are reserved for an elder’s use and usually add a flourish to each movement of the wearer’s head. This headdress is composed of a multitude of feathers, and would stand out as the designated crown for a person of high rank.
Feathers, beads, cloth, leather
8 x 9 1/2 in. in. (20.3 x 24.1 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.1154
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, African Panoplies: Art for Rulers, Traders, Hunters, and Priests, Apr. 21 - Aug. 14, 1988.
Published ReferencesBurt, Eugene C., East African Art in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1985, no. 10, p. 17

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM