Further Media
Producer unknown to us
Oceania, Polynesia, Tonga Archipelago (Tongatapu, 'Eua, Nomuka or Lifuka/Ha'apai group)
Before 1781
Wood – probably club tree (Casuarina equisetifolia), worked from one piece
Acquired in 1773–74 or 1777 on Captain James Cook’s second or third expedition in the Pacific. It is yet unknown by whom the object was acquired.
Brought from Great Britain to Germany by Benjamin La Trobe, a Moravian working in London.
Inv. no. 68366
With its three legs, the design of this headrest differs significantly from the classic four-leg Tongan kali – and its originality suggests a particularly high-ranking aristocratic previous owner. The details also speak for themselves: The sublime lowering of the headrest, the carefully rounded edges, and the modification of the support feet – the solitaire support on one side has a larger, more stable disk base than the pair of legs on the opposite side.
Widespread throughout the Pacific and Asia, headrests were also used as pillows in Tonga, to protect the elaborate hairstyles of high-ranking men and women while they rested or slept. The headrests, which were also presented as gifts in ceremonial exchanges, were of great spiritual importance: They were designed to prevent the head and hair, the most sacred and untouchable parts of an aristocratic personality, and the seat of mana – the divine energy of the ancestors – from touching the ground and losing mana.
In Cook’s time, Tongan kali were kept discreetly in the house and wrapped in ngatu, the precious Tongan bark bast, which also served as a protective medium to preserve the mana. Even today, in the Kingdom of Tonga, kali and ngatu are typical traditional gifts at weddings and other ceremonial occasions (talanoa).