The headrest: An ancient symbol of status

Among nomadic tribes, owning a flock of cows was not the only symbol of wealth. 

Authentic African art and African wooden headrests and neck rests are often additional, supportive indices of status.

 The headrest is used like a pillow. It has a flatter surface to rest on while neck-rests tend to have a crescent shaped curve to hold and provide support for the neck.

Used mostly by men but also by women in some cultures, they are hand carved and used to keep the head propped while sleeping. This ensures an enjoyable and comfortable sleep.

Pillows provide support to the body while sleeping and provide a perfect posture to sleep so that it does not cause any type of pain in muscles and body- likewise the tribal headrest.

Each African headrest is custom made for its owner and the size is determined by the distance of the shoulder to the neck.

 A favorite of pastoralist people, headrests which must be carried along long tortuous trips tend to be light and durable.

There are many reasons the headrest found a central place in the life of nomads. But one immediate pragmatic reason was to protect their ears from crawling insects and bugs. One typically sleeps on a headrest by lying on one's side. This promotes proper alignment of the spine.

The earlier recorded headrests come from Egypt. The Tellem people of Mali, who lived in the 11th-16th  century and later also favoured headrest. The Tellem inhabited the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali.

The Dogon people migrated to the escarpment region around the 14th century. Being pygmies, the Tellem or  "small red people" built dwellings around the base of the escarpment Some Tellem buildings, most notably granaries, are still in use by the Dogon, although generally Dogon villages are located at the bottom or top of the escarpment, where water gathers and farming is possible.

 The Tellem people supposedly disappeared  or perhaps interbred with the Dogon.

In some cultures such as the Congolese, the head is the core of human consciousness and so headrests are associated with the spirit of their owners. Indeed, unlike in Kenya where a banana plantain is buried when the deceased’s body cannot be found, in Congo, they bury that person’s headrest.

The Baule people of Ivory Coast, mostly farmers and traders, also have this headrest as their heritage.

Since forests abound in West Africa and with them the cultural associations of ancestor veneration as well as masking and statues to commemorate their ancestors, the people of this region favour headrests with African sculpture built into the design.

 Although styles differ this kind of sculptural headrest is common in central Africa too. Headrests have thus pivoted into amazing works of art.

The Shona of Zimbabwe and Zulu cultures of South Africa are also recorded as users of headrests.

While the origin of these cultures can be found in pastoralist tradition from where they migrated south from east and central Africa hundreds of years ago. As they move south the started living more settled lives. As a consequence Shona headrests (as opposed to neck rests) are vaguely like those you might find in Ethiopia or Somalia. Travel further South and the Zulu favour broad blocks of wood which are clearly not intended for easy transport.

The exact origins of headrests are undocumented. However, it is assumed that sub-Saharan headrests followed an Egyptian tradition. Egyptian examples survived because they were made of stone, unlike African headrests which were almost always made of wood. They were susceptible to the wetter sub-Saharan climate and the prevalence of termites.

To understand and appreciate the tribal headrest, one must carefully study the style and patina of each headrest.

The beauty is also key as is the wood condition. The patina – the ageing quality of the thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, bronze, some stones, and wooden furniture, or any similar acquired change of a surface through age and exposure is also to be studied to see if there is evidence of previous usage.

The collector item must also have a provenance closely associated with the headrest and also ooze a sense of rarity. It also helps immensely if the headrest has a figurative element for example it incorporates a human element or an animal.

The authors are art connoisseurs associated with The Home Gallery. Email: lisa@lisachristoffersen.com; kitheka@live.com