Headrests are objects of great beauty made for individuals to use as pillows. They originate from many different cultures across the globe. In Africa, headrests such as those illustrated here were made largely by people living in North East, Central and Southern Africa, with a few having been found in Mali. The oldest African headrests date back to the Old Kingdom of Egypt, where the headrests used by individuals during their lifetimes were often placed alongside their corpses or mummies in their tombs. The forms of many later African headrests are foreshadowed by these ancient Egyptian examples, but no direct link between the two can be established.

The headrests in this picture are all from Southern Africa and demonstrate the two major types that are made in the region. One, associated largely with Nguni-speaking peoples, has a horizontal orientation with an elaborate support and no base. The other, associated with Shona- and Tsonga-speaking peoples, is squarer and more compact, having three distinct parts, a base, a support and a platform. The extraordinary variety achieved in the designs of headrests within these types is evident even in this small sample. Headrests belonged to individuals and were kept by them as treasured possessions, sometimes dressed with beads, rubbed with oil, and mended when they were damaged. They have become treasured items in art collections because of the beauty of their designs and the patina and gravity of their age.