Arts and Crafts of the Cook Islands
Figure 38.—Rarotongan chief's headdress. a, side view of coir cap denuded of feathers: upper part (1) consists of oblique parallel rows of alternate black and natural brown coir work which meet in a middle vertical line (2) on each side (at the time of examination I had not had sufficient experience to work out the exact detail); lower part (3) consists of horizontal rows of eight coils with coiled work of the Atiu continuous figure-of-eight technique and two incomplete courses (4) leaving a ga…
Figure 38.—Rarotongan chief's headdress. a, side view of coir cap denuded of feathers: upper part (1) consists of oblique parallel rows of alternate black and natural brown coir work which meet in a middle vertical line (2) on each side (at the time of examination I had not had sufficient experience to work out the exact detail); lower part (3) consists of horizontal rows of eight coils with coiled work of the Atiu continuous figure-of-eight technique and two incomplete courses (4) leaving a gap; a coir cord (5) is pushed through hole at apex to form a loop. b, cap with feathers in position: cocks' plumage and red tail feathers of tropic bird are tied to a frame of light rods fastened to cap. A chin loop (6) is sewn to rim on either side.