Gurage Wood Headrest, Ethiopia

Scratched in crisscross lines and topped with a blue-grey dished surface.

This carved wood headrest is Gurage, from Ethiopia, East Africa. The Gurage live in the highlands of southern Ethiopia, where wood carving, farming and the cultivation of the enset plant are long-established parts of life. Broad, flaring body in dark red-brown rises from a thick disc foot. Shallow diagonal scratches cross the sides, and the wide concave top has a dull blue-grey tone with a small chip on its back rim.

Wears its scratches and its blue top with equal ease.