SHONA/TSONGA, ZIMBABWE

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Among the cultures of South Africa, wood carving was produced by men, and the imagery they incorporated into their works reflected their particular concerns. Meat dishes, milk pails, headrests, and staffs held allusions to the cattle men raised and the ancestors they revered.

Headrests were believed to provide a vital link between the living and the spirits of their ancestors by way of dream communication. The rests, which were frequently carved in imaginative and elaborate designs, embodied and enabled this metaphysical support offered by a man’s forebears. They were both common and precious, utilitarian and spiritual. Headrests often formed a part of a bride’s dowry, creating an important connection between her own ancestors and her new husband’s line.

Fine workmanship and imaginative composition distinguish this Shona headrest, which integrates a full ungulate figure (possibly an antelope) and a three-columned rest. Deftly executed triangular motifs adorn the surface of the rest and the flanks of the animal, and are echoed in the conical shape of its stout legs. Clear animal iconography such as this is rarely seen in headrests, suggesting this special piece was carved for a person of high status.

For an example by the same hand, see Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium collection number EO.1980.2.481 ex Marie-Jeanne Walschot (1896-1977), Brussels, Belgium.