Ernest Casimir’s Hat with a Bullet Hole before 1632

This hat, known as Ernest Casimir’s Hat with a Bullet Hole, is of unknown origin. It’s made from a humble material: pressed cardboard, shaped into a wide-brimmed design. But of course, it’s the damage that arrests our attention. The bullet hole, a brutal disruption of the hat’s form, carries a powerful narrative charge. We can imagine the moment of impact, the sound, the sheer violence of it all. While the hat itself may have been manufactured for everyday use, perhaps even mass-produced, it’s the intrusion of such a stark event that elevates it beyond the ordinary. It becomes a relic, heavy with the weight of history, and a reminder of the fragility of life. The combination of simple material and extreme event collapses any distinction between craft and fine art, asking us to consider the profound stories that even the most unassuming objects can tell.