“A Mexican head-dress about 3 ft. in height composed of magnificent green feathers with golden-hued lustre and of coloured bands of feather-work studded with small plates of gold. This specimen was termed in the inventory of 1596 ‘a Moorish hat’”
“On folio 472 of this ancient document it is catalogued with other objects in feather-work contained “in a chest (No. 9)” and is described as “a Moorish hat of beautiful, long, lustrous green and gold-hued feathers, bedecked above with white, red and blue feathers and gold rosettes and ornaments. In front, on the forehead, it has a beak of pure gold.”
“Montezuma, the king of Temistitan and Mexico,” is designated as “a Moorish king” in this same inventory of 1596.”
“It is interesting to note the gradual changes that occur in the wording of the subsequent periodical official registrations of this “Moorish hat.” In 1613 its description was faithfully reproduced. In 1621 the word “Indian” was substituted for “Moorish;””
SOURCE;
(Zelia Nuttall, ‘Standard Or Head-dress? An Historical Essay on a Relic of Ancient Mexico’; 1888)
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