This remarkable textile construction boggles the mind when one thinks about what it took to create such an object. There are nearly 5,000 individual rectangles of silk cloth that were cut on the bias and carefully (i would say devotedly) sewn down with great precision to create this hat. Each individual piece of silk cloth had to be tucked under at the edges and sewn to a backing cloth in order to keep them in place and prevent unraveling at the edges. The sheer time and skill it would take to do this is hard to imagine. The top of the hat has a beautiful circular center done in ivory colored silk floss. All stitching is very fine and precise. This hat was probably sold to a devotee making the pilgrimage to Mecca. It was purchased in Sumatra, but likely made in Egypt. The center band and top of the hat have a pattern containing stylized Kufic style inscription as the design. a delicate basket-like vegetal fiber form was made separately to act as a reinforcing structure within the hat. This hat measures 5.5 x 6.75 x 5.5 inches. As you can see i have two of these hats, but this is the finer of the two. The second hat has a different color pallet and is a bit smaller with a multi-colored basketry frame. Both are remarkable.