Fine Headrest, Tongan Islandskali laloni length 19in (48.3cm)ProvenanceDamien Wollner Collection, ParisAcquired from the above by the present ownerPublishedDamien Wollner Collection, 2003Edward Dodd notes, "Since the head was the most sacred part of the body, the residence of a man's mana, it was desirable that the head's support be appropriately individual and well-designed." (Polynesia's Sacred Isle, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1976, p. 105)This intricately constructed and most likely stone-carved example bears a "seat" with slightly tapered hourglass shape with softly rounded top and flat underside with diamond-form blocks nesting in arched horse-shoe shaped legs bound to the seat with fiber sennit and resting on flat, squared feet; superb highly-worked dark brown patina with encrustations.