A Place to Rest the Head: Traditional Headrests in Chinese Culture

This exhibition will explore the use of pillows in Chinese cultures and the beliefs that surround the designs and patterns on the items. The objects in the exhibition will span the millennium from the 10th through 20th centuries.

Pillows are used throughout the world as a way of elevating the neck. In China, headrests can be made from a range of materials. Cloth pillows stuffed with buckwheat chaff of other fillers were popular, but firmer pillows made of lacquered woven rattan or leather, bamboo, wood, stone or ceramic were not uncommon. Many would probably find these pillows incredibly uncomfortable and although softer pillows were used harder pillows had their merits. The rigidity of stone and ceramic had massaging effects on the occipital (back) region of the head. Many Southern Chinese used these pillows for their cooling effects during hot and humid weather. These harder varieties of headrests enable the air to circulate freely around the individuals’ neck whereas softer pillows restrict this flow of air.

Pillows are often found in burials as it was often believed that the dead had the same resting needs as the living. Wooden and jade pillows have been discovered in tombs dating to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – CE 220).

Venue

Museum of East Asian Art, Central Bath

Dates

20 Dec 2008 - 30 Apr 2009