- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Wooden headrest with three angled legs, cut in one piece from a tree branch and decorated with linear pokerwork designs [RTS 20/10/2004].
- Long description
- Headrest carved from a single piece of yellowish brown wood (Pantone 463C), a lighter yellow colour where the surface is worn (Pantone 7508C). This is an example of 'found form', with a naturally grown branch specifically chosen because its shape, with subsidiary branches coming off the main stem to form the three feet, was suitable for making a headrest. It consists of a horizontal top piece that forms the 'seat', with the upper surface cut flat, and the underside left rounded. This tapers to either end. A circular hole has been burnt through the body at the front end, presumably to allow the headrest to be hung up. Three smaller branches extend from the base of this piece, with one at either end, in line with each other, and the third branch angled out from the body, not far from the back end. The bases of these feet have been cut flat, and show some wear. There is also a hemispherical lug projecting from the centre underside of the seat. This has no obvious function, and may have been a residual branch, cut down and shaped for decorative effect - perhaps to increase the resemblance of the object to an animal. The sides of the legs and lower part of the seat have been decorated with a series of short lines, burnt into the wood using a heated tool. These consist of two columns running down the sides of each leg, and two horizontal rows running along the long sides of the seat, although the upper surface has been left plain. The surface of the hanging lug has been similarly adorned. The object is complete, although each leg has a split running down its length. It has a weight of 194.2 grams. The seat area is 238 mm long, with a height of 185 mm; the legs have a typical width of 17.5 mm and are 17 mm thick, while the burnt grooves are around 2 mm wide [RTS 20/10/2004].
- Geographical reference
- Cultural groups
- Nuer
- Date / Period
- Date made: Before 1931
- Date collected
- 1930 - 1931
- Acquisition information
- Donated: 1931
- Materials and processes
- Material Wood Plant, Process Carved, Process Perforated, Process Decorated, Process Pyroengraved Pokerwork
- Dimensions
- Length 238 mm, Diameter: max 17.5 mm legs, Height 185 mm, Weight 194.2 g
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1931.66.17
- Research and responses
This object was collected by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard, probably during his first or second season of fieldwork amongst the Nuer, e.g.: in 1930 or 'the dry season' of 1931. In the former, he spent around three and a half months in Leek territory at Yahnyang and Pakur on the Bahr el Ghazal, in Lou territory at Muot Dit, and at Adok, amongst the Dok Nuer. In the latter, he spent five and a half months at Nasir, on the Nyanding River, and at Yakwat on the Sobat River (see E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1940, The Nuer, and the map of Evans-Pritchard's fieldwork in D.H. Johnson, "Evans-Pritchard, the Nuer, and the Sudan Political Service", African Affairs 81 no. 323, p. 233).
Objects like these were used by men to protect their elaborate hairstyles. Willis described the Nuer practice of covering their hair with a paste made of clay, cow dung and urine, and then shaping it into the desired style, such as a cock's comb, or a peak at front or back. This treatment gradually wears off, staining the hair a reddish colour, and then the hair needs to be redone. Domville-Fife describes a similar process for the Shilluk in some detail, although amongst that group hair is dressed by a specialist barber, and is a costly process (C.W. Domville Fife, 1927, Savage Life in the Black Sudan, pp 71-76).
While Evans-Pritchard did not record the local name for this particular example, a similar but undecorated headrest, 1937.34.49, is called köm, although he also uses this term for Anuak examples (see 1936.10.55-6). This type of lightweight headrest, made from a tree branch, is produced by a number of Nilotic groups; for further Nuer examples, see 1917.25.39-40, 1931.66.18, 1932.30.1, 1936.10.56, 1937.34.49 and 1948.2.128; for Dinka examples, see 1934.8.17, and for examples from the Anuak, see 1936.10.55 [RTS 22/08/2005].
Search terms: Furniture Dwelling, Headrest, Furniture