Carved wooden headrests have historically been popular across regions of Africa (and in regions outside of Africa) and are used to keep one's head elevated in order to protect elaborate hairstyles during sleep. The underside of this headrest's base is labeled "Zier" (likely a mispelling of Zaire), indicating that this headrest was made or collected between 1971 to 1997 when the country now known as The Democratic Republic of the Congo was known as Zaire and under totalitarian and authoritarian military rule.