{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[],"creditline":"Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951","caption":"Artist unrecorded, Swazi, Zulu, South Africa, Southern Africa, Headrest, late 19th–20th century. Wood; 15.7 × 44.3 × 9 cm. Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951 (1998-541)","cultureterms":[{"id":2041478,"culture":"African"},{"id":2042959,"culture":"Swazi"},{"id":2042966,"culture":"Zulu"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2048921,"term":"headrests","aatid":300248658,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2194621,"term":"zoomorphic","aatid":300010338,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2103926,"term":"animals","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2064771,"term":"furniture","aatid":300037680,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2067033,"term":"sleeping and reclining furniture","aatid":300038696,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2041478,"term":"African","aatid":300015647,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2042959,"term":"Swazi","aatid":300016554,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2042966,"term":"Zulu","aatid":300016558,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2156347,"term":"carving","aatid":300053149,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2045920,"term":"wood","aatid":300011914,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, South Africa","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Southern Africa","country":"South Africa","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/953987/republic-of-south-africa.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}},{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, Swaziland","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Southern Africa","country":"Swaziland","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/934841/kingdom-of-swaziland.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"15.70"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Length","units":"centimeters","dimension":"44.30"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"9.00"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1998-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":22875,"displayname":"Artist unrecorded","displaydate":null,"datebegin":0,"dateend":0,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1934,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Furniture","packages":[{"packageid":278831,"name":"10282025-DAY1-ONVIEW"},{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":223066,"name":"Gallery_31_African"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2048921,"classification":"headrests"},{"id":2067033,"classification":"sleeping and reclining furniture"},{"id":2064771,"classification":"furniture"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[{"id":15022,"culture":"Zulu","alphasort":"Zulu","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Zulu","displaydate":null},{"id":15705,"culture":"Swazi","alphasort":"Swazi","begindate":0,"enddate":0,"displayculture":"Swazi","displaydate":null}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/1998-541"],"displaytitle":"Headrest","displayculture":"Swazi | Zulu","displaymaker":"Artist unrecorded","captionhtml":"Artist unrecorded, Swazi, Zulu, South Africa, Southern Africa, <i>Headrest</i>, late 19th–20th century. Wood; 15.7 × 44.3 × 9 cm. Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951 (1998-541)","displaydate":"late 19th–20th century","medium":"Wood","media":[{"id":6474,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/1998-541","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Luna Digitization Project"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013)","citation":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections </i>(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 170-171","date":2013,"id":1994,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/865020505"},{"boilertext":"Margaret Rose Vendryes, \"Africa in repose: stools and headrests,\" <EM>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</EM> 58 no. 1/2 (1999): p. 38-53.","citation":"Margaret Rose Vendryes, \"Africa in repose: stools and headrests,\" <EM>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</EM> 58 no. 1/2 (1999): p. 38-53., p. 50, fig. 19","date":1999,"id":3039,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774790"},{"boilertext":"\"Selected checklist of objects in the collection of African art,\" <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 58, no. 1/2 (1999): p. 77–83.","citation":"\"Selected checklist of objects in the collection of African art,\" <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University</em> 58, no. 1/2 (1999): p. 77–83., p. 82","date":1999,"id":3043,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774794"},{"boilertext":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection</i> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007)","citation":"<i>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection</i> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 168, p. 169 (illus.)","date":2007,"id":474,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/191864564"},{"boilertext":"<p>\"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest,\" <em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum </em>61 (2002): p. 49-99.</p>","citation":"<p>\"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest,\" <em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum </em>61 (2002): p. 49-99.</p>, p. 69","date":2002,"id":3025,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774767"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"African and Oceanic Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199315,"term":"African Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1900-1945","dateend":1999,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Headrest","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"","objectnumber":"1998-541","inscribed":"inscribed, on bottom of center foot: W. Moore \r\ninscribed, on bottom of other center foot: 80","texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"William Moore (1894-1983), Los Angeles, CA; John B. Elliott (1928-1997), New York, NY by 1987; bequeathed to the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, 1998.","remarks":"\"by 1987\" date as per NMAFA loan"},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"<p>\n\tPlaced under the ear and cheek or below the nape of the neck, these elegant headrests from southern Africa supported their owners’ heads and protected elaborate hairstyles during sleep. By encouraging a deep sleep, they were believed to promote dreams, an important function for the Tsonga and northern Nguni, who communicated with deceased family members while in a dreamlike state.\n</p>\n<p>\n\tThe design of headrests was often highly functional. The double headrest with bulbous snuff containers at each end was intended to hold a tobacco mixture for a couple to smoke before bed. The flat disk at the end of the headrest with the staff allowed the owner to attach a bundle to the headrest during travel. The rounded zoomorphic forms and raised geometric decorative patterns found on the Zulu headrests are associated with cattle, a historic source of wealth for the northern Nguni.\n</p>","remarks":"AFR_31_WLA.pdf - Day 1 installation - Group for 1998-539 a-c, 1998-538, 1998-542, and 1998-541"}],"datebegin":1870,"sortnumber":"1998  541","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:52:23.051208","objectid":37036,"dimensions":"15.7 × 44.3 × 9 cm (6 3/16 × 17 7/16 × 3 9/16 in.)","on_view":true}