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From Africa to Quai Branly: Histories of the Collections

musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, photo Pauline Guyon

Headdress

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ubangi River region
Early 20th century
Plant fibres, pigments
Gift of François Boucher
Paris, Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac

This cord-fringed headdress from Congo perfectly illustrates the complexity involved in establishing provenance: history changes over time.

Indeed, in 1932, when François Boucher, curator of heritage and specialist in dress history, gave the headdress to the Musée du Trocadéro, he informed them of its historical provenance. According to him, this was as follows: going back to 1880, we find, on the one hand, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, a leading actor in the late 19th-century exploration and colonisation of Atlantic Equatorial Africa by the French. On the other hand, we find Iloo I, also known as Makoko, the king of the Téké. In that year, Iloo I signed a treaty of alliance with Savorgnan de Brazza, and on the day of signing he was said to have worn this particular cord-fringed headdress.

And yet, no historical evidence substantiating Boucher’s account has ever been found, either in photographs or drawings, or in the descriptions of Iloo I. Instead, the documentation tells us that he wore an embroidered skullcap with two long, slender feathers mounted on either side. In other words, it bears no relation to the headdress in question. The clues do not stop there, however: in drawings produced by one of de Brazza’s companions, we see a similar headdress, but worn by the man who served as their guide!

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