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African Headrest

Figure 87 Headrest, 19th century;
artist: Unknown Nguni;
Wood, H. 4 1/2 × W. 10 5/8 × D. 5 1/4 × L. 10 5/8 in. (11.4 × 27 × 13.3 × 27 cm);
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York), Purchase, Andrea Bollt Bequest, in memory of Robert Bollt Sr. and Robert Bollt Jr., 2018, 2018.356 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All Rights Reserved.

Object/Work🔺

  • Catalog Level:🔺 item (value type: controlled list)
  • Type:🔺 headrest (value type: authority)

Classification🔺

  • Terms:🔺
    decorative arts
    furniture
    African art (value type: controlled list)

Titles or Names🔺

  • Text:🔺 Headrest (value type: free text)
    Preference: preferred (value type: controlled list)
    Type: repository

Creation🔺

  • Creator Description:🔺 unknown Nguni (value type: free text)

  • Identity:🔺 unknown Nguni (value type: authority)
    Role:🔺 carver

  • Creation Date:🔺 19th century (value type: free text)
    Earliest:🔺 1801 Latest:🔺 1900 (value type: controlled format)

  • Creation Place/Original Location: Durban (KwaZulu/Natal, South Africa, Africa)(value type: free text and/or controlled format)

Measurements🔺

  • Dimensions Description:🔺 11.4 x 27 x 13.3 x 27 cm (4 1/2 x 10 5/8 x 5 1/4 x 10 5/8 in.) (value type: free text)

  • Value: 11.4 Unit: cm Type: height
    Value: 27 Unit: cm Type: width
    Value: 13.3 Unit: cm Type: diameter
    Value: 27 Unit: cm Type: length (value type: controlled format and controlled lists)

Materials and Techniques🔺

  • Description:🔺 Carved wood (value type: free text)

  • Material Name: wood
    Technique Name: carving (value type: authority)

Subject Matter🔺

  • Indexing Terms:🔺
    object (utilitarian)
    sleeping headrest
    animals
    cow
    quadruped (value type: authority)

Descriptive Note

  • Text: With its four bulbous legs supporting a flat horizontal surface, this headrest resembles the figure of a cow, a significant animal in Nguni culture. While the headrest’s flat surface is completely unadorned, its legs, handles, and underbelly are decorated with deeply incised grooves that wrap around the form in parallel lines. Widely recorded in art traditions throughout the African continent, carved wooden headrests are specifically used in the Nguni context to protect elaborate coiffures indicating the wearer’s gender, age, and/or status. The distinctive style of this headrest, most notably the surface patterning, allows it to be attributed to a known group of sculptors active in the former British colony of Natal, near present-day Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, in the 19th century. (value type: free text)

  • Citation: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York, United States) (value type: authority)
    Page: accessed 31 July 2024 (value type: free text)

Current Location🔺

  • Repository Name/Geographic Location:🔺 The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York, United States) (value type: authority)
    Repository Numbers:🔺 2018.356 (value type: free text)

NOTE: 🔺 indicates a core

Revised 31 July 2024
by Emily Benoff

Figure 87 Headrest, 19th century;
artist: Unknown Nguni;
Wood, H. 4 1/2 × W. 10 5/8 × D. 5 1/4 × L. 10 5/8 in. (11.4 × 27 × 13.3 × 27 cm);
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York), Purchase, Andrea Bollt Bequest, in memory of Robert Bollt Sr. and Robert Bollt Jr., 2018, 2018.356 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All Rights Reserved.