A PALESTINIAN CEREMONIAL WEDDING SILVER 'MONEY HAT' (WUQAYAT)
Hebron, Southern Palestine, mid to late 19th century

Of typical hemispherical shape, usually worn as a cap at the summit of a more elaborate Palestinian bridal headdress known as wuqayat al-darahim, often referred to as 'money hat' given the number of overlapping rows of coins sewn onto the off-white cotton ground, reminiscent of fish scales, each coin stamped, marked and some cut into shape, the top covered with a stitched white metal disc with filigree roundels and a central bezel set with blue glass or paste.

18cm diameter and 12cm high

Wuqaye or wuqayat headdresses of this kind have usually been attributed to the territories of Southern Palestine, like Hebron, and Ashdod (once spelt Isdud, currently in Israel). Given their intrinsic value, 'money hats' were worn within the same family for generations and occasionally, they were even owned communally and lent out for a bride to wear only during her marriage celebrations. These rites of passage still hold a great significance throughout the Arab world today. This example must have been a prized possession given the hundreds of old coins decorating it. Most coins date back to the Ottoman sultans' reigns of the mid and late 19th century. For an almost identical example complete with tassels and tail: René van der Star, Ethnic Jewellery from Africa, Asia and Pacific Islands, 2008, p. 38.

Further comparables are published in G. Völger, K. v. Welck and K. Hackstein, Pracht und Geheimnis: Kleidung und Schmuck aus Palästina und Jordanien, Katalog der Sammlung Widad Kawar, exhibition catalogue of the Rautenstrauch - Joest - Museum der Stadt Köln, 1987, p. 344., cat. 285; and Shelagh Weir, Palestinian Costume, 1989.