Opera hat which means hat, and "claque", which means "tap" or "click". The "chapeau claque" is thus a hat that folds with a click, and unfolds likewise. In English the hat model is usually referred to as a "collapsible top-hat", "gibus" or more often "opera hat"- The construction may originally have been inspired by an historical hat model called "chapeau bras" ("arm hat"), made as bicorne or tricorne to be carried folded under the arm On May 5, 1812, a London hatter called Thomas Francis Dollman patented a design for "an elastic round hat" supported by ribs and springs. His patent was
Femme au Chapeau Femme au Chapeau Femme au Chapeau or Woman with a Hat is an oil painting created circa 1906 by the French artist and theorist Jean Metzinger (1883–1956). The work is executed in a highly personal Divisionist style with a marked Proto-Cubist component during the height of Fauvism. "Femme au Chapeau" exhibits a presentiment of Metzinger's subsequent interest in the faceting of form associated with Cubism. The painting now forms part of the collection of the Korban Art Foundation. "Femme au Chapeau" is an oil painting on canvas with dimensions 44.8 x 36.8 cm (17 5/8 x 14½ in.), signed "J.Metzinger"