THIS IS A ONE-OF-A-KIND HAT. WHEN THIS SINGLE HAT SELLS WE WILL REMOVE THIS ITEM FROM OUR SITE.
Ecuadorian artist Jose Mario Vega Cuyo painted this Andean scene in the naive style on a paja toquilla (panama) hat. The 3 inch-wide mural at the base of the crown runs 360 degrees depicting mountain vistas and native life in the Andes. The hat is a marriage of the hat making artisan and the fine artist. You may know, from many other sections of our web site, that panama hats are woven by hand in a pre-columbian traditon. This is an exquiste and unique head piece of wearable art. The image inserts show the other side of the hat from the large image (may be worn with any part of the art work forward) and a closeup of the detail and artist's signature reading "Jose Mario Vega Cuyo '89".
On April 17, 2004 Tom Miller, author of THE PANAMA HAT TRAIL, spoke at our Hillcrest store in San Diego. This 1986 classic of travel literature and the hat industry was re-issued in 2001 by National Geographic Adventure Press with an introduction by Tony Hillerman. When Tom was here, we had him sign a number of copies for our customers. While they last, we will include a signed copy of THE PANAMA HAT TRAIL with the purchase of this hat.