A strong cylindrical central structure balanced on top of a curved, rectangular base, and a sleeping surface above with the typical downward-pointing lugs, all suggest a Tsonga provenance. However, the rectangular base has a surface that curves from front to back with the highest point at its centerline, an unusual feature. Several similar examples exist in collections and have been variously identified as North Nguni, Zulu, Tsonga, Thonga, and Shangaan. For example, three similar headrests are illustrated in The Architecture of Sleep, all without known provenance. While these have the central circular support, they vary in the presence or absence of lugs, and in the base designs.
Two analogous to this example are published in Art and Ambiguity, identified as North Nguni and North Nguni/ Tsonga; one with a standard rectangular base appears in the Pethica Collection and one in The Art of Southeast Africa has two brass studs nailed into the front center of its circular support. The publication, Sleeping Beauties, includes a comparable example which has triangular chip-carving around edges of the circle and the base, as do many of the other examples listed above.
As with No. 9 in the catalog, the base of this headrest has been broken, either deliberately or accidentally.
Udo Horstmann, Zug, Switzerland