While this headrest has the three sections associated with the upright headrest – base, central panel and sleeping platform, – the base of this example is most unusual. It is in two parts and shaped like an inverted funnel that has been split in two. The tall, upside-down funnel shape suggests both skirt and/or legs, giving the headrest a certain female quality. The light wood has been boldly decorated with dark poker work.

By comparison with the tall base of the headrest, the central support is much smaller and less volumetric. Its flat profile has been punctuated with holes, creating a strong X-shape contained by two equally striking brackets, one on either side. A small ‘dowel’ carved from the same piece of wood joins the legs of the X, adding structural strength. Smaller horizontal rods link the waist of the X to the two brackets, presumably not only for design considerations.

The dark upper platform is concave along its sides and convex at its ends. The whole headrest has been rubbed with red ocher mixed with fat, giving it a warm reddish-brown hue. It is completed by a small thong tied through one of the holes, presumably to facilitate its being carried.