Prestige Cap (Mpu)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.A type of crown known as an mpu remained a key regional attribute of political authority and social rank into the late twentieth century. Created by specialized artisans skilled in stitching and embroidery, mpu were generally composed from palm fiber. Especially fine examples draw upon the fibers of pineapple leaves. Conferred when an individual acceded to an office or position, some mpu had specific names. The cap of a nobleman or prince was mpu ntando; the crown of a king, mpu umtinu; the snug, embossed cap worn by the official who managed trade with Europeans, the mpu mafouk. Mpu were sewn in different models—those with drooping crowns and tassels were worn by high-ranking chiefs; the most prestigious examples are those with added leopard claws.
Artwork Details
- Title: Prestige Cap (Mpu)
- Date: 19th–early 20th century, inventoried 1938
- Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic of the Congo; Cabinda, Angola
- Culture: Kongo peoples
- Medium: Raffia or pineapple fiber, leopard claws
- Dimensions: H. 9 7/8 in. (25 cm), Diam. 6 1/4 in. (16 cm)
- Classification: Textiles-Non-Woven
- Credit Line: Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing