Curator

  • Art Institute Chicago
  • Harvard art museum
  • My Exhibition
A work made of beads, cotton, rattan, and warthog tusks.

Tusk Hat (Ogut Tigo)

Early 20th century

Luo Kenya or Tanzania Eastern and Southern Africa

Kenya

A fringe of warthog tusks defines this extravagant hat as a powerful male status symbol. The irregularly shaped beads in dark blue, white, and red were imported from Europe in the late 19th or early 20th century. Such a prestige hat would be worn in combination with other insignia, including beaded earrings, a necklace of ostrich-egg shells, and metal bracelets and rings.

Beads, cotton, rattan, and warthog tusks

Arts of Africa