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22 Wooden headrest

Egypt, said to be from Bahr el Ghazal, Bahariya Oasis
Kenya, Turkana
Late nineteenth or early twentieth century

This wooden headrest is carved from a single piece of wood. There are two small holes through the centre of the support, which would originally have had a handle attached, and there is a thin piece of natural fibre wrapped around the support ten times. This piece was bought as an Ancient Egyptian object by R.G. Gayer-Anderson in Egypt, however, it is clearly of a type found amongst the Turkana people in Kenya in more recent times. The base contains copper alloy metal pins that have been hammered into the object, with a flattened surface to create a decorative pattern.

Given by R.G. Gayer-Anderson
The Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, E.GA.6480.1943

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