Cultural Heritage in Debate: Four Crowns and Hats of Glory! – Sharp Eye

In the history of ownership of cultural property, there are four stories about ceremonial hats which illustrate the complex debates about who owns these treasures which have traveled from their countries of origin to various locations around the globe.

From ancient to modern times, the arguments rage on, as world leaders are upset if they cannot have them returned.

Headdress of Aztec King, Montezuma, 15^th c.  Quetzal feathers and gold beads.

The first example is indeed a wonder of ancient Mexico made of feathers from the quetzal bird, hand sewn together with twine, beads, and pieces of gold leaf.  The ancient Codex Mendoza, currently in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, shows it worn by the Aztec king, Montezuma. He met the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortez, who then conquered the Aztecs and claimed Mexico for the kingdom of Spain under the rule of King Charles IV in 1521.

Codex Mendoza, Montezuma in costume. Bodleian Library, Oxford, United Kingdom.1541.

One of the King’s soldiers, Diego de Soto, sent the headdress to Spain in 1524 where it resided with the King until it was gifted again to the Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand II, and stored in his castle in Innsbruck for safekeeping. In 1817 a Museum of Anthropology was begun in Vienna.  The curator of same was greeted in 2020 by the wife of the President of Mexico, Mrs. Andres Obrador, during a state visit. He told Beatriz that the hat could not travel back to Mexico because it was too fragile.   Instead, a replica of the feather headdress, shown below, was made and resides in the Museum of Anthropology today in Mexico City.

Replica of the headdress of Montezuma, Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.

Another refusal of restitution involved the Queens of England who have worn the crown holding the world’s largest diamond since 1849. It was taken from the leaders of India as a piece of state property when that kingdom was under the control of the British empire. Known as the Koh-I-Noor, or mountain of light in the Persian language, it holds a 105.6 carat diamond which was found near Guntur in the 13^th century which was then controlled by the Kakatiya Dynasty.

Koh-I-Noor: Mountain of Light,105.6 carat diamond.

Queen Elizabeth with the Diamond Crown.

Queen Victoria entrusted the diamond crown to the Royal Collection of British Crown jewels for all her successors to enjoy. It resides in a safely guarded fortress known as the Tower of London along the River Thames. Numerous requests for return of this gem by the leaders of India have been denied.

In contrast to these two denials are two more wonderful stories of ceremonial hats returned to their countries of origin.  The first is the story of the Crown of St. Stephen of Hungary.  It holds a combination of gold and enamel images of Jesus and his apostles and weighs about 4.8 pounds. It was made for the first King Stephen who was crowned in 1001.  Since then, it has been used in coronation ceremonies of more than 50 kings as a halo bestowing the divine right of the king to govern.

Crown of St. Stephen. Gold and enamel bars.

During World War II it was hidden in a cave near Mattsee, Austria and given to the U.S. 86^th Army division on May 4,1945 for safekeeping from the invading Russian forces. It was transported to the United States and stored in the Bullion Depository at Fort Knox in Kentucky with the gold reserves of the USA.  Finally in 1978, President Jimmy Carter asked his Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, to return the crown to Hungary which he did with a ceremony in Budapest.  Today it is in a guarded display in their Parliament building in that city. An image of the crown is also depicted on the royal coat of arms of Hungary.

Royal Coat of Arms, Symbol of Hungary.

The final story about a ceremonial hat began when I received a phone call from the General Counsel of the University of Pennsylvania asking me if I had any ideas about how the staff of the Penn Museum would respond to a request from the Tlingit tribe in Alaska for the return of the Raven of the Roof Hat for their tribal potlatch celebration. She told me they wanted someone to receive a raven tattoo and join the tribe at the party.

Raven tribal hat, Tlingit clan.

After a bit of thought, I suggested that we could find a slide-on tattoo like my grandchildren are allowed to wear and then wash off in the shower. She was thrilled with that idea and sent two members of the Penn Museum staff to Alaska with the hat and the slide -on tattoo. Curator Lucy Fowler Williams said the Raven potlatch included a seven-course dinner with wonderful music and dancing by its members which lasted 22 hours.

The hat was apparently made about 1825-50 of pine cones, wood, and animal parts from a porcupine tail. It became part of the Penn collection thanks to a purchase of a former curator, Louis Shotridge, in about 1915.

In 1990 the U. S. government passed a statute known as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which was designed to return human remains, funerary objects and sacred ceremonial items to their lineal descendants.  The Penn Museum has charged its curator, Lucy Fowler Williams, with enforcing this statute with student and professional assistance.    She subsequently has arranged more tribal visits to the Penn Museum which have allowed lineal descendants to claim museum works which the staff then returns to enforce the NAGPRA statue guidelines.

In conclusion, the histories of these four hats tell the complex stories of how these objects of international fame respond to the claims of countries and tribes who want to reconnect with their historical symbols of national identity.  Some return and others await a time when new leadership might reconsider these requests.

Sources Consulted:

1. Esther Pasztory, The Art of Aztec Mexico. Art Journal, Vol. 43, 1983.

2. Attila Simontsits, The Last Battle for Saint Stephen’s Crown. Olimpian Books, 1983.

3. Hugh Roberts, The Queen’s Diamonds. Royal Collection Trust, 2012.

4. George T. Emmons, The Tlingit Indians. University of Washington Press, 1991.

5.     Penn Museum, Curatorial Staff records, University of Pennsylvania.