Tall Turkana/Karamojong Bentwood Headrest

Bentwood headrests in a horseshoe shape are particular to the far northeast of Uganda and northwest Kenya. Examples of this particular form, with columnar legs and splayed feet, can be spotted in field images of Turkana and Karamojong men from the colonial era. The 1954 British documentary film  Karamoja captures Jie (Karamojong) men carrying and resting portable seats of this precise type, claiming that they are deemed necessary “to protect” the Jie warriors’ elaborate, clay-and-pigment-shaped coiffures. The film ignores the fact that these headrests are also used as portable seats on which to sit and rest, and that headrests are also used by men without extravagant coiffures. The reality is that, while headrests do indeed protect coiffures, most people would rather rest with their head supported by something with some height, rounded edges, and a clean surface rather than a rock.

The same 1954 film includes unique footage of Jie men fashioning such headrests from scratch. They begin by roughing out the seat from a straight length of wood with two junctures thinned through carving to create joints, which can be flexed. The wood is then set over a pot of boiling water. As the steam softens the wood, the maker then pressures the wood in order to bend it at the two joints. He then binds the developing form with rawhide, itself no doubt soaked and sure to shrink as the bound headrest-in-making dries. Once the partially formed headrest sets, it is steamed again and once again bound. The duck feet of the headrest appear to be designed to provide a secure hold point for the rawhide. After several sessions of steaming and drying, the headrest arrives at the desired shape and is then worked on further with sharpened carving tools to refine and smooth the surface.

No two headrests of this form are exactly alike—the process of making them has too many variables, the material is fickle, and the elements have idiosyncrasies of their own. The techniques used to create bentwood headrests were time-consuming and required experience and knowledge passed down through generations. The tradition appears to have been interrupted and is now lost. One sign of this is the recent appearance of fake headrests in this and related styles, which are carved without the laborious bending and steaming process. The lack of a straight, continuous grain running up the legs and across the seat is the giveaway. These headrests deserve our respect. They are the apex of a cultural refinement of a form and process fallen into extinction. $750

9″

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