Guapi Mao—or Qing Dynasty Official Hat—a skull cap that denoted rank and education

Not sure how I came by this although my mother was friends with many Chinese refugees that came to our university town and our church in the 1950s and 1960s (many had lost their academic and intellectual catholic/christian grandparents and relatives in the communist purges). Anyway, my current situation in hurricane-wrecked Florida and farm in rural KY aren’t doing this cool thing with such a provenance any favors. 

Unbranded

Possible date: 1870s-1911

Lustrous black Silk satin with black silk grosgrain band

Red cotton lining

Foldable in six sections

Red silk knot and tassel

22” circumference 

6” high