Bongo Warrior's Headdress, Based

A horseshoe of cowries with a single horn rising from the crown, which settles any question of who is in charge.

This warrior's headdress is Bongo, from South Sudan, East Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is hemp, horn and cowrie. Across much of Africa, cowrie shells long served as currency and as signs of wealth and status, so sewing hundreds of them onto regalia was a clear statement. Here a broad arched band of plaited fiber is densely covered in rows of white cowries, gathered into a thick cap at the top. A tapering dark horn projects upward from the center. It is mounted on a stand and is 11.5 inches wide, 10 deep and 23 high.

Subtle was never the assignment.