Vintage 50s Bes-Ben Hat Pointed Buddha Pagoda

From the great milliner's midcentury travels and fascination with the Far East, comes this little beauty of a hat. Brimless beanie in a black fabric, it has upturned panels encircling the crown and fronted with silver and gold-tone buddha figures in a flat relief. They create a scallop-edged undulation further enhanced with tiny, silver beads as trim all around the edges. Top of the crown has a pyramidal shaped construction of three Buddhas leaning on each other, as a sort of punctuation point to the whole design and echoing a pagoda shape. Remnants of a dotted, black veil appear. It is shown here across the front of the face as well as pushed up and aside.
Interior has two hair combs.

The hat is documented in the important monograph on the milliner: “Bes-Ben: Chicago’s Mad Hatter.” Page 204. The picture caption is from a Sun Times Newspaper, March 5, 1954, and reads: “Refers to a hat worn in a fashion show ‘India will be made of Buddhas and jewels.’ This version was dated 1959. Original price $129.75, (equivalent in 2024 to $1,515). SEE PIC 10.

Label: Bes-Ben Chicago
Condition: very good except for the top Buddha which has tendency to tilt just a bit, and the black netting has some large gaps, as seen in the pics, and as is typical for a hat of this age.

Diameter: 7.5"
Height of Buddhas 2"