Ntwane headrests (metamelo) come in a few configurations but are all simple structures, some with minimalist decorations and others completely unadorned. Typical of one of the styles, this example has a top and base that are slightly thicker than its central panel. The panel has a recessed area in a rectangular shape with pinched corners, reminiscent of the traditional fireplace or sebeso built into the floor of the courtyard or lapa of most Ntwane homesteads.

In the publication, Headrests of Southern Africa: The Architecture of Sleep, an image, taken in 2009, of Dikeledi Mathebe shows her holding a headrest in the same style as the present example. Mathebe, from the Moshate area of Ntwane, had owned her headrest since adolescence.