A floppy felt sunhat worn by a Roman soldier in Egypt 1,800 years ago has been painstakingly restored and put on display at the Bolton Museum. One of only three known to survive in the world, and now the best-preserved of the three, the hat has been in storage at the museum for 114 years. It was too fragile to be shown to the public. Thanks to funding from a local electrical manufacturing company Ritherdon & Co., the holey wool felt was repaired and the hat that had been flat in a box for more than a century is now three dimensional again.
Textile conservator Jacqui Hyman of The Restoration Studio was engaged to resuscitate the piece.
“I had the unique privilege to handle and investigate the construction and conserve this very rare felt hat.
“Planning the appropriate and sensitive treatment was paramount due to its fragility.
“Damage by moths had resulted in areas of missing felt, but by supporting and stabilising these areas with similar hand-dyed fabric, the original shape of the hat was recreated.”
The hat is comparable to ones made around 200 A.D., and is believed to have belong to a Roman soldier deployed in Egypt at around that time. It has modifications to help the wearer brave the environment, with a high domed crown and wide, floppy brim to protect from the punishing Egyptian sun and sandstorms.
Its wide brim is reminiscent of the Greek petasos hat, traditionally worn by farmers, travelers, cavalry soldiers and the god Hermes, but the petasos had a low crown that hugged the head instead of the high dome of this chapeau. The sun hat does have a button at the top seen in some depictions of the petasos on pottery and coins.
Its origins are unclear. It was donated to the Chadwick Museum, Bolton’s first museum, in 1911 by pioneering archaeologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie who excavated numerous sites in Egypt over his 50-year career. Bolton was an important textile manufacturing center in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Chadwick Museum had a large collection of Egyptian textiles.
The hat can now be seen at the entrance to the Bolton’s Egypt galleries. It will remain there until September after which it will be moved to its permanent location.
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