Luba Headrest

Headrest
Wood, blackish paint/polish
Size in cm: 21 x 21 x 8
Weight: 400g

Used by the members of the Luba elite, artefacts like these elevated the head of its resting owner. Its function may appear not important at all but it served an important purpose by protecting the sleeper's elaborate coiffure. Such pieces of art did require some fifty hours to create.The Luba peoples are settled in the land of what is today Democratic Republic of Congo. As early as the seventeenth century, the Luba headed an extensive, centrally organized state structured on the principles of divine monarchy.