Circa 1900

Herero - Near old German mission cemetery in Okahandja - Otjozondjupa Region - 1900

The Herero or Ovaherero - were once nomadic herds people who at the time of first European contact, lived in Namibia and Botswana. They comprised several subgroups, which include the Himba, Ovatjimba, Mbanderu or Ovambanderu and the Kwandu. Related groups living in Angola included the Kuvale, Zemba, Hakawona, Tjavikwa, Tjimba and again the Himba.

Click any image for a larger resolution picture.

Herero Ekori's are perhaps the rarest of all African headdresses. We have identified less than a dozen examples in museums and only 3 in private collections. They were worn by married women on special occasions as well as brides. According to Gordon D. Gibson, a former curator of African Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institute, Herero women could not be seen in public with a bare head. The three 'horns' symbolized cattle, which provided much of Herero food, milk and clothing. Three horns were used to represent the superiority of the Herero over their cattle.

Click either image for a larger resolution picture.

The elevated horns are more than double the height of Himba Ekori's. They seem to face the rear of the head and are attached to a leather skull helmet. Each 'horn' was decorated with extremely fine, highly tooled detailed design patterns. 

Herero - German SouthWest Africa - Circa 1900

The knowledge that we have of Herero Ekori bonnets was gained from studying the few that remain, together with photographic records. The absence of Herero age old dress in present day culture was the result of the Herero and Namaqua Genocide.

Click either image for a larger resolution picture.

              Detail of leather tooling and fine atheistic stitching.            Iron beads or currency wealth.

For hundreds of years iron beads were considered currency and thus constructed into heavy anklets, decorative pendants for costume, or as stylized veils or hair attached to Ekori bonnets. To the rear of this Herero Ekori hang two sections of iron beads with the periodic spacers.

It is estimated that about 2000 pastoralist Herero escaped the Germans traveling eastwards in small numbers to the Kalahari desert, into what was then the British protectorate of Bechuanaland. These people arrived with little or no cattle and became subservient to the Tswana - Bechwana. Ruled under the British crown, they discarded their traditional costume and adapted Victorian colonial dress. For the most part, Herero women of today have retained that fashion. After 100 years, those who migrated back to Namibia, continue to dress in a like manner. The 'nowadays' Herero seem unable to identify old Herero dress or the Ekori - when shown 19th century photos.

Click any image for a larger resolution picture.

 

Three Herero women from Namibia in Victorian Dress

 

These five woman in four images are Mbanderu - Herero from Botswana - Circa 2004

Click any image for a larger resolution picture.

Hundreds of years -  if not one thousand of years - of Herero custom lives on. It is still not appropriate for Herero to expose their heads in public. The above photographs depict Herero and Mbanderu - Herero woman today, wearing the fabric Victorian era headdresses which had replaced their Ekori. Despite the atrocities of the German genocide, the  Herero have endured and are prospering in 21st century Namibia.   

Click any thumbnail for a larger resolution image of our extremely rare Herero Ekori bonnet. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to obtain such a headdress on the www - one which is unlikely to be repeated again.

*

Zemba Headpiece

Angola - Namibia

Zemba women wear headdresses that display to the back of the head.

Both the Zemba and Hakawana wear these head pieces. The woman above is Hakawana from Angola. The Zemba live on both sides of the Angolan and  Namibian border.

Zemba Women - Angola

*

BaSotho - Sotho - Ba Sotho Hat

J R Ivy Album Collection - Basutoland

Sotho hats have been worn by Suto-Chuana - Setswana speakers for centuries.

Click Image for Larger Picture

 

Our example was rediscovered in the UK. Its age confirms it would have arrived there during the early 20th century. This style is commonly referred to as modianyeoe.
 

 

Meeting of Peter Wright and Mothibi -1835

 

Sotho hats predate colonial rule. This sketch records Peter Wright's visit to Dithakong in 1835 where he met the Tlhaping (Sotho-Tswana) chief Mothibi. Chief Mothibi is holding a staff - and wears a cape and Sotho hat. 

J R Ivy Album Collection - Basutoland - Circa 1940

Men wove the hats from plant fiber. Note the abstract shapes surmounting a completed hat placed on the ground to the hat makers left - (right side of the picture).

Click Thumbnails for Larger Pictures

Our example is mounted on a custom made stand. (right image)

Click Image for Larger Picture

European influence altered Sotho cap finals. Over time, the "crown" fashioned modianyeoe developed. It came to represent status and prestige - as well as displayed skilled talent.

       Duggan-Cronin - The Southern Basotho - Circa 1930           J R Ivy Album Collection - Basutoland - Circa 1940

Plate LIX of Duggan-Cronin's "The Bantu Tribes of South Africa - The Suto-Chuana Tribes" makes reference that the function of the hat was to deflect rain and that a persons blanket was drawn up around the neck in wet weather.

*

Pondo women wore decorative wigs or headdresses during the late 19th and 20th centuries.

This wig is the combination of three separate articles, joining into the resulting elegant object.

Click Thumbnails for Larger Images

.

 

Headdresses of the Mpondo are rare in collections.

 

Cords were made from plant fiber, ochre  and beads then  applied. 

Over the years we have had a number of these and this example  will likely be the last offered.

*

Gallery Ezakwantu has no intention to make these fine crowns appear common and they are not. We target rare and beautiful objects and as a result, can only take pleasure offering you these.

Click Thumbnails for Larger Images

.

Example A

A fabulous example dating to the mid 1900's..