Pare (child's hat)

This pare (hat) comes from Penrhyn in the Northern Cook Islands. It is a child’s hat made from undyed rito fibre in the style of a cartwheel hat.

Construction

The crown of the hat is a dome shape that spirals out onto a wide flat brim, with some structural decoration at the brims edge. The hat band comprises of a string of cowrie shells interspersed with clusters of black and white shells highlighted with brown, pink and yellow shells.

Significance

This pare belonged to Jean Chapman-Mason who used to have a regular supplier of pare and other woven products within the Cook Islands. However, by the 21st century many people were emigrating to New Zealand or Australia and sellers would not maintain a permanent stall in the markets. People preferred to call in on an irregular basis with their goods to see if Chapman-Mason wanted to purchase anything from them.

Acquisition history

The pare was offered as a gift to Te Papa in 2017 by curator and poet Jean T. Chapman-Mason (Cook Islands/English).