Bamileke Headdress, Cameroon

A thick black feather halo, so dense the light seems to sink into it.

This headdress is Bamileke, from Cameroon, Central Africa, contemporary, in chicken feather. In the Cameroon Grassfields, these feather headdresses, commonly called juju hats, are traditionally associated with ceremonial dance, and today they are often hung as wall pieces. The feathers are layered in tight concentric rings from a central knot, opening into a full disk. Every feather here is black, with a faint blue-black sheen at the tips. The outer edge is ragged and soft. It is 7 inches high and 34 in diameter.

Black, round and quietly theatrical.