{"product_id":"vintage-woven-palm-straw-western-hat-leather-bound-brim-c-1965-1990","title":"Vintage Woven Palm Straw Western Hat, Leather Bound Brim, c. 1965–1990","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA western hat woven from split palm straw, with a creased crown, a wide shaped brim, and a suede band at the crown base matched by a suede binding worked round the whole edge of the brim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe weave is a broad plaited twill in flat splints, laid in bands that shift between pale straw and a warm toasted brown, so the surface reads as a pattern rather than as a plain field. It has been blocked rather than sewn from a strip, and the crown holds a soft cattleman crease with the side dents still standing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe brim is turned up at the sides and pulled down front and back in the way a working hat is shaped by being worn, and it has kept that shape rather than relaxing flat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth the band and the brim binding are a soft napped leather in a mid tobacco brown, stitched down with a fine machine line. The binding is what lifts the hat. A plain palm hat is finished with a rolled straw edge, and a bound edge in leather is a step above that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInside the crown, written across the weave in a broad dark stroke, is an owner's name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe inscription inside the crown reads PATERSON. It runs across the curve of the weave and the final letters sit where the straw turns away from the light, so the reading is given as the best one the writing supports rather than as certain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat inscription is also the only dating evidence the hat carries, and it is more useful than it looks. The stroke is broad, of even width along its whole length, dense black, and it has bled slightly into the straw splints at the ends of the letters. That is the behaviour of a felt tip marker rather than of a pen or a pencil, neither of which will lay down an even wide line on a surface this uneven. Felt tip markers reached ordinary household use from the early 1960s, which sets a floor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNothing sets a corresponding ceiling. There is no maker's label, no size stamp and no sweatband tag, and an absence of those gives an outer limit rather than a starting point. Palm straw western hats of exactly this construction were made continuously in Mexico and the American southwest across the whole of the last century, so the weave, the block and the binding will not narrow the range on their own. The bracket below is therefore left wide on purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat can be said without hedging is that it was worn, and worn properly. The crease is set, the brim holds its shape, the band is darkened at the front where a hand takes a hat off, and somebody cared enough about it to put a name in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ec. 1965–1990. Dated from the inscription. The even wide dense stroke of the name inside the crown is consistent with a felt tip marker, which places the writing no earlier than the early 1960s and gives a floor. No label, size stamp or sweatband tag survives, and that absence gives an outer limit only, so the range is left wide rather than narrowed for effect\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaker\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eUnattributed. No label found\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWestern hat. Blocked palm straw with a creased cattleman crown and a wide shaped brim\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterials\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSplit palm straw in a plaited twill. Suede band and suede bound brim edge\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOwner's name written inside the crown in dark ink, read as PATERSON\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDimensions\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eApproximately 15 in. across the brim by 5 in. high at the crown\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eGood honest worn condition. Structurally sound with the crown crease set and the brim holding its shape. Weave intact throughout with no holes, splits or unravelling found at the crown, the brim or the edge. Suede band and binding attached all round with the stitching sound, darkened at the front from handling. Overall toning and soiling consistent with wear. Offered as found and not cleaned or reblocked\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA worn straw hat is one of the most reliable props in decorating, because it carries a person with it. Hung on a peg, a bedpost, a hat rack or a pair of antlers, it reads immediately as somebody's rather than as merchandise, and the name inside is the proof.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colouring does a lot of quiet work. Toasted straw against tobacco suede sits naturally with old leather, oiled wood, denim, canvas and raw plaster, which makes it easy in a ranch house, a mudroom, a cabin or a shop window.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a retailer it is a fixture as much as a piece of stock. Put it on a hook above a table of belts, boots, blankets or tools and it does the styling for the whole display, and it will still sell.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67557766889577,"sku":"VE-1760","price":271.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/01_710ffb92-f372-4ebc-8d7a-4684ff61730c.jpg?v=1790582641","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/vintage-woven-palm-straw-western-hat-leather-bound-brim-c-1965-1990","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}