£700
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities | 556
Auction: 1 May 2019 at 12:00 BST
carved wood and pokerwork, with dual neck supports seperated by a central lidded snuff container, resting on three "wheels" decorated with notched triangular motifs, a long base below
Provenance:
Jonathan Lowen
Bernice & Terry Pethica Collection
Published:
Klopper, Nettleton and Pethica, The Art of Southern Africa, The Terence Pethica Collection 2007, n° 21
Note:
"This wonderfully witty headrest combines elements used in making single headrests supported by a lone circle with features from more traditional long Nguni-style headrests, and adds other modern elements to mix. For this support, the carver juxtaposed three circles, each centred on a knob from which radiate four arms of a vertically oriented cross shape, like four wheel spokes. The three wheels rest on a long base, and the other two outer wheels each support a platform (Tsonga style) with a V-shaped hook (Zulu/Nguni style) extending from the end. The central circle supports a hemispherical lidded pot that connects the two platforms. The notched triangular relief decoration on the circles is similar to that on other headrests of the circle type, but here the black and tan contrasts created by pokerwork are in an almost pristine condition. If anything was likely to be kept in the pot, it would have been snuff." (Klopper, Nettleton and Pethica 2007).