Red, yellow, blue, and white Madras headdress

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A plaid headdress formed into a traditional Guadeloupian style. The red, blue, yellow, and white woven Madras style plaid cotton is formed and heat-set into a fixed structure with a portion rolled and gathered to fit over the crown of the head like a cap, and a decorative accordion-pleated fan reaching from ear to ear over the top of the head. The cap has a layer of medium-weight paper between the facing and lining Madras fabric to provide extra support. The raw edges of the fabric are hot-glued on the interior of the cap. A knot at the center back cap portion is also hot-glued, as is the back edge of the knot at the base of the fan. A manufacturer's tag reading "DODY" in white on a plaid ground is attached with a plastic tag to the proper left side of the fan near the cap.

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗