This hat was made by weaving and stitching this strips of cotton cloth over a rattan or fibre frame and decorated with a tiered gilded silver finial. Such hats may have been originally brought by Yemeni traders or brought back by pilgrims from Sumatra who went to Mecca to perform the Hajj. Often, decorative finial of precious metal, set with stones was added, probably as an embellishment to show rank and status. It is a good example of how imported goods were often adopted for ceremonial use by local peoples in Sumatra.
