Juju Hats

Home to a diversity of chiefdoms, kingdoms and villages are the grasslands of the beautifully forested volcanic mountains of Cameroon. Some of the most important tribes include the Bamoun in the East, the Bamileke in the South and the Tikar east of the Bamoun. During royal court affairs, the celebrants of these kingdoms wear a spectacular headdress known as the Tyn or Juju hat made of Feather Headdress . The hat is worn by the chiefs, senior dignitaries, prominent officials and important dancers. This large bright hat consists of multi-colored bird feathers. The feathers range in a wide variety of colors including white. The feathers are carefully sewn onto a raffia fiber base, covered with material on the outside that splays out into a huge circle. When not in use between festivities, the Tyn hat can be neatly folded in on itself for easy storage. The feathers are utilized as rare objects of beauty, as a symbol of prosperity and for the wealth of positive qualities associated with birds. The Jujus offered have varying diameters when fully splayed. They are worn by adult dancers and teen initiates when celebrating and during rituals. The mini size hats are decorative reminders of such positive  

One can now play not only with color but with size too!

Our Juju hats (Bamiléké Feather Headdresses or Tyn hats) from Cameroon come in four sizes.

Mini size : 31 cm – 40 cm (12.2 inches – 15.7 inches) diameter

Small size : 41 cm – 50 cm (16.2 inches – 19.7 inches) diameter

Standard size : 75 cm – 80 cm (29.5 inches – 31.5 inches) diameter

Large size : 1,10 cm – 1,20 cm (43.3 inches – 47.2 inches) diameter

Standard size Juju hats

* A14. Yellow * A10. Orange * A9. Fuchsia * A7. Red *

* A11. Blue * A12. Purple * A16. Turquoise * A15. Multi-Color *

* A1. Natural White * A3. Natural Brown * A5. Natural White & Black * A21. White & Fuchsia *

* A22. Jet Black  * A26. Cocarde * A2. Natural Black * A6a. Natural Partridge *

* A6b. Natural Guinea Fowl * A4. Three Colors *

* A34. Pastel Green * A37. Pastel Turquoise * A28. Pastel Pink * B26. Pastel Grey *

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Small size Juju hats

*  B7. Red * B9. Fuchsia * B10. Orange * B14. Yellow

* B11. Blue * B12. Purple * B16. Turquoise *

* B1. Natural White * B3. Natural Brown * B2. Wild Black * B15. Jet Black *

* B23. Pastel Green * B24. Pastel Turquoise Blue * B28. Pastel Pink *

* B27. Pastel Grey *

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Mini size Juju hats

* D2. Red * D3. Fuchsia * D4. Orange * D5. Yellow * 

* D6. Blue * D7. Turquoise * D8. Purple *

* D1. Natural White * D10. Natural Brown * D9. 3 color White, Brown & Black * 

* D23. Jet-Black *

 * D12. Pastel Green * D13. Pastel Turquoise Blue * D24. Pastel Pink *

* D15. Pastel Grey *

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For information, available stock or to place an order, simply send us an e-mail here .

Some important info:

1- TONES & SIZES MAY VARY SLIGHTLY
Juju hats are handmade in the traditional manner by extremely talented craftsmen. We work with sevaral different families, each one with their method of production. Depending on who made the headdress and who did the dying there can be slight differences.

This doesn't mean that they are totally different but very slight variations of color and/or size can happen.

It is preciscely these little differences that we at Kronbali cherish so much as it makes each headdress UNIQUE.

To make things easier for our clients Kronbali has edited/posted a catalogue with a selection of colors and sizes to choose from making it possible to pre-order, but again please keep in mind that colors and sizes can vary.

2-Dye does not like direct sunlight. We suggest you avoid placing the headdress in direct sunlight as color will fade.

3-Moths love feathers*!!! Please make sure to treat your Juju hats regularly against moths. We suggest that every three months you put the headdress in a plastic bag and place it in your freezer over night or place a little bag of lavender or some cedar wood in the back . In some countries anti-moth sprays can be found in hardware stores.

*This does not apply for all countries, some luckily do not have moths.

For more information about Bamileke feather headdress and it's origines you can go here .

Here's a little "How To" post. It's about time right?

1. A folded juju hat, that’s how it is shipped and will arrive to you (wrapped in bubble in a solid box of course)

2. The b string is what you will need to “unwrap” (do not cut any strings!)

3. Once the b string is unwrapped you will push in the center d of the raffia support, placing both your hands as in the image your fingers grasping the raffia ring while your thumbs push in the center, you can also push with your knee, especially for the large once (as I was taking the photo my other hand was holding the camera)

4. The feathers will unfold like a flower, push all the way till the center sort of pops out.

1. Once the juju hat is unfolded you will place the feathers, they were all wrapped up so they need to "breath" now.

2. You can move the outer raffia sticks (covered in textile), do this to better place the feathers*

3. Once the outer feathers nicely placed brush out the inner feather. Do this by simply caressing them into place.

4. All set. Plant a nail where you want to hang the juju hat and hang onto the thread loop c tied on the raffia support ring.

 

* Notice I have marked thread a , this is an essential thread in the juju hat. It is the tread that holds the outer raffia sticks together, each stick sewn to the other. Make sure to NEVER cut this thread (as all others) but if your juju hat were to be a little too loose, this thread can be tightened. The process must be done very carefully but is far from complicated. Simply untie the knot, making sure that you don’t undo the thread from the raffia stick, tighten the outer raffia sticks and retie the knot. Please note that if you were to tighten too much the hat will stand out more and be less flat so I suggest not tightening too much.

A special little tip that I’ve found very helpful. To fluff out your juju hat BLOW DRY it. Don’t wet the headdress just blow dry it. The feathers will fluff up some. Especially useful when setting the outer feathers that have been bent some back into place after they’ve endured the shipping.

Last but not least, I suggest one treats the juju hats every three to four months against moths. Either use an anti moth spray found in most drugstores or place cedar wood behind the headdress. One can also put the headdress in the freezer over night or out in the freezing cold on a winter night.

For any further information please do not hesitate to contact us at grace@gdecors.com