Headrest
date: label: Date
content: 11th-14th century
name: label: Maker
content: Tellem artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: In the Bandiagara cliffs, above the villages now occupied by the Dogon people, carved wooden headrests have been found in burial caves. The Dogon, who do not now use headrests, attribute them to the Tellem, former inhabitants of the region from the 11th to the 16th centuries. Rogier Bedaux, who has excavated in the burial caves, asserts that headrests "do not occur in Dogon contexts."
label: Label Text
content: Tellem headrests that have been excavated from documented cave sites have elegant silhouettes but minimal decoration. Other undocumented examples, like this one, are adorned with circles, zigzags or other geometric designs. Although unusual, some headrests have animal heads projecting from either end of the curved upper platform. The heads resemble those found on troughlike containers and benches of the contemporary Dogon. This example is unusual because the platform support is hollow, like the Dogon coffers in the form of a quadruped, and instead of the dessicated grayish appearance of headrests excavated from the caves, this one has a dark brown patina. It is possible that the museum's headrest was originally made for the Tellem but reused by the Dogon.
label: Description
content: Wood headrest ornamented with horse heads projecting from both sides of the rectangular base, which is itself decorated with triangular chip-carved motifs around the top and sides. A rectangular cavity is carved in the center of the seat. A small animal head, probably a horse, projects from the lower portion of the base.
label: Provenance
content: Saul Bellow, Chicago, 1969
label: Exhibition History
content: Life...Afterlife: African Funerary Sculpture, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 1981-March 1, 1982
label: Exhibition History
content: African Sculpture, Princeton University Art Museum, February 2-March 14, 1971, no. 3
label: Exhibition History
content: The Language of African Art, Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Fine Arts & Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., May 24-September 7, 1970, no. 5
label: Published References
content: Museum of African Art. 1970. The Language of African Art, A Guest Exhibition of the Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution Fine Arts & Portrait Gallery Building. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, no. 5 (not illustrated).
label: Published References
content: Museum of African Art. 1971. African Sculpture at Princeton University from the Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, no. 3 (not illustrated).
label: Published References
content: National Museum of African Art. 1981. Life...Afterlife, African Funerary Sculpture. Exhibition brochure. Washington, D.C., p. 6, no. 3.
label: Published References
content: 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. 16, no. 2.
label: Published References
content: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Art Gallery. 1970. African Art. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, p. 8, no. 10.
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Mali
topic: label: Topic
content: Funerary
label: Topic
content: horse
label: Topic
content: male
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Saul Bellow
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 69-4-1
objectType: label: Type
content: Decorative Arts
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Wood
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 14.9 x 31.5 x 12 cm (5 7/8 x 12 3/8 x 4 3/4 in.)