wooden Shona headrest , Central Style, Zimbabwe Africa

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wooden Shona headrest , Central Style, Zimbabwe Africa

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Sold Date: 04/01/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

Fine wooden Shona headrest (neckrest) from Zimbabwe, central style.

The first signs of the use of headrest among the Shona were found at the archaeological site of Mapungubwe (dated to the twelfth century A.D.). Almost without exception, sources in every Shona Area claimed that headrests were only used by adult males. And that in the olden days a man with several wives would place his headrest by the hut of the wife he was going to sleep with that night.

Headrest were personal items among the Shona and, if not buried with the owner, were distributed to their relatives at an inheritance ceremony ( nhaka ) after their death. The first time this happened with an headrest, the item was passed on laterally (brother to brother) and the next time the headrest was passed on allways lineally (father to son).

The use of these headrests has now nearly ceased, but they are still untill this day carved for the spirit mediums among the Shona. These mediums use the headrests to facilitate having dreams about the ancestors, dreaming being a very important way of acquiring knowledge for the Shona.

T are six different styles : eastern, north-eastern, north-central, central, south-west and south-east. This headrest belongs to the central style. A related central style headrest is in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. (picture 9).

Size 15,5 x 14,5 cm and weight 263 gram. Fine condition.

Shipping will be 17 USD to Europe and 29 USD to the rest of the world.