Supported by four thick legs, this powerfully composed headrest takes the form of a quadrupedal animal, or perhaps two such animals fused and opposed at the midsection. The angular, wedge-shaped head/tail elements are echoed by the belly, which hangs between the trunk-like legs, tapering into a prominent, triangular umbilicus. Relief carvings are found on both sides of the abdomen in the form of tiered sawtooth motifs, and chevrons in relief decorate the head, which also features glass bead eyes. A small, diamond-shaped opening is pierced in both sides of the belly, just below the edge of the concave top surface.

This headrest belonged to Wilhelm Pohlig, a sanitary sergeant serving in the Guardian Forces of General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck in German East Africa. Pohlig's son, Helmut, was six years old when the colony collapsed after several years of resistance. After his father’s death, Helmut and his mother were the last citizens of the empire who left the colony, having been able to embark on the last ship from Dar es Salaam through the personal intervention of General Lettow-Vorbeck.