Vanuatu Hat, New Hebrides Wickerwork

Made from fibers, wood, beaten bark, and natural pigments, this headdress was worn during rituals organized by a secret society.Once disguises the wearer represented a spirirt.Hats of this type are extremely rare : a similar hat belongs to the British Museumbcollection ( inv. Oc,1305 )and another one to the Grassi Museum fur Volkerlunde in Leipzig (inv.Me 05314).
Anthony Innocent Moris, known as “Père Moris,” was one of the earliest dealers and collectors of tribal art. Following his death in 1951, Charles Ratton documented his collection by photographing the objects that had gradually filled his Paris apartment. In one of these photographs, the Vanuatu headdress from the Bottet Collection can be identified, placed on top of a Yoruba post.