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Feathered helmet (mahiole)
Artist / Origin: Hawaiian artist, Polynesia
Region: Oceania
Date: Pre-19th century
Period: 1400 CE – 1800 CE
Material: Plant fiber, feather
Medium: Textiles and Fiber Arts
Dimensions: H: 12 ½ in. (32 cm.)
Location: British Museum, London, UK
Credit: © British Museum/Art Resource, NY
Royal Crown (adènlà)
Artist / Origin: Yoruba artist, Nigeria
Region: Africa
Date: 20th century
Period: 1900 CE – 2010 CE
Material: Glass beads, fiber, cloth, and thread
Medium: Other
Dimensions: 54 1/2 in x 8 x 8 in (including beaded veil)
Location: Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Credit: Courtesy of the Newark Museum
Because a costume can imprint its wearer with signs of status, secular authority, and spiritual connectedness, dress often plays a major role in the expression of power. Headdresses, in particular, are part of the ceremonial attire of cultures around the world. Given the importance that so many diverse peoples attribute to the head as the seat of the mind or the soul, the adornment of this body part is especially meaningful. Both the feathered helmet of a Hawaiian chief and the beaded crown of a Yoruba king are worn ceremonially to convey the privileged positions of the leaders who wear them.