Headrest
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Object Details
- Tsonga artist
- Label Text
- This delightful headrest incorporating the figure of an elephant is unusual in both its representation and large size. It derives from a Tsonga aesthetic tradition of carving headrests with animal figures. Widely used by Tsonga cattle herders before the turn of the century, these headrests were portable and functional personal objects meant to protect elaborate hairstyles.
- The size of this headrest, the expression on the elephant's face, and the lack of signs of use suggest it might have been produced for sale to Europeans. Only two other comparable headrests exist; both are in the Rijksmuseum in Holland. So close in style are the three headrests that it seems possible that they were produced by the same hand or workshop. Rogier Bedaux, curator of African Collections at the Rijksmuseum, states that the headrests in their collection originated in Marabastad, in the northwest Transvaal region of South Africa, and were collected before 1890. If it had been produced for an outside market, this headrest would be a remarkably early example of "tourist" art.
- Description
- Headrest attached to an elephant with a short legged, elongated body.
- Provenance
- Private collection, Germany
- Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1991
- Exhibition History
- Artful Animals, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., July 1, 2009-July 25, 2010
- Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, September 25, 1992-June 1, 1993
- Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
- Published References
- Mellor, S. 2007. From Delicious to Not Quite Right: Subtleties in Discerning the Authenticity of African Art. Objects Specialty Group Postprints, Volume 14 CD. Washington, DC: American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, p.23, no.25.
- National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 175, no. 130.
- Ross, Doran (ed). 1992. Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 12, no. 1-20.
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- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- ca. 1890
- Object number
- 91-14-1
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Decorative Arts
- Medium
- Wood
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 14.6 x 53.7 x 8.3 cm (5 3/4 x 21 1/8 x 3 1/4 in.)
- Geography
- vicitnity of Fort Marabastad, Limpopo Province, South Africa
- See more items in
- National Museum of African Art Collection
- National Museum of African Art
- Topic
- elephant
- male
- Record ID
- nmafa_91-14-1
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys715e2f4b9-5167-4358-bbaf-6126ab3f4f09
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