Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2018.13.1 |
Object Name |
Montera |
Description |
Flat hat with heavy gold embroidery and silver sequining with center ornament made of Bolivian coins, metallic thread and yarn. The lining is made of red wool and blue cotton. Tarabuco is a Bolivian town and stronghold of Yampara culture. The Yampara thrived in the area from 9-14 AD before voluntarily or forcibly merging with the Inca and other local indigenous groups. Today, Tarabuco is known for its weaving, music, and its distinctive attire. Some of the Yampara/Tarabuqueno dress is borrowed from the Spanish. Several of these hats resemble the hats of Spanish conquistadors who entered the southern Andes in the 16th century. This particular flat type of hat is typically worn by women and is known as a pacha montera-it is typically embellished with sequins and colorful ribbons, and a thin band decked with coins and more ribbons on the forehead. Like most Bolivian women, they typically wear their hair in braids tied with tuyumas, black woolen strings. Women also wear a black almilla and a skirt or ajsu and cover themselves with a llijlla tied with a tupu or silver brooch at front. It is unclear when Yampara peoples adopted the montera and other European-inspired dress, but scholars suggest that they did so to satirize their colonizers. |
Title |
Pacha Montera |
Date |
Mid-20th century |
Material |
wool | cotton | embroidery | metal | sequins |
Dimensions |
H-8 W-17 D-14.5 inches |
Credit line |
Gift of Philip White and Family in Memoriam of Enid Shelby |
Place of Origin |
South American/Bolivia/Tarabuco |
Culture |
Yampara |
Subjects |
Clothing & dress Colonialism Hats Identity Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples |