Sperada Headdress
This type of headdress, locally called a "Sperada", is part of a wider group of headpieces whose ray-like shape gives them the descriptive name, "Raggiera". The "Sperada" is typical to the Italian-speaking regions of southern Switzerland and to northern Italy, and functioned not only as a woman's hair ornament but also– more particularly– held great cultural significance by proclaiming her domestic status. Traditionally, on reaching marriageable age, a young woman's parents would gift her the core of the assemblage: the two large egg-shaped pins (conventionally referred to as "olivelle", olives, in the Italian sources). At her engagement, the woman would receive the additional large pins at the base of the piece from her fiancé. The many additional sword-like hairpins (called "spadine") in-between, which create the halo-like rays, represent additional, cumulative gifts to the woman from her husband to mark significant moments in their marriage, such as the birth of a child.
Although largely defunct nowadays, from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, such headdresses were common in the southern foothills of the Alps. They are still worn as part of the traditional dress sported by the Brianzola or Firlinfeu performative groups of northern Italy, who continue the regional musical traditions of the distinctive firlinfeu panpipes.
Although largely defunct nowadays, from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, such headdresses were common in the southern foothills of the Alps. They are still worn as part of the traditional dress sported by the Brianzola or Firlinfeu performative groups of northern Italy, who continue the regional musical traditions of the distinctive firlinfeu panpipes.
Artwork Details
- Title: Sperada Headdress
- Date: ca. 1850
- Culture: Italian or Swiss
- Medium: silver
- Dimensions: [no dimensions available]
- Classification: Accessory-Headwear-Womenswear
- Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Ridgley Hunt, in memory of William Cruger Pell, 1906
- Object Number: 06.990
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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