A rare uluga lalaga headrest. This is the only type of purposely manufactured soft headrest that I know of in the South Pacific. It is beautifully crafted from woven two-tone pandanus leaf fiber creating a crenellated linear decor. It is filled either with the remains of old woven mats or with old coconut leaf. These headrests are woven and used by women although they can also used by men.

Tuvalu (Ellice Island), Micronesia. Kie pandanus fiber. 30.5 x 10 Ø cm. 19/20th century.

Ex coll. : The London Missionary Society, London, with its original paper label. The first evangelist, a native minister named Elekana from Manihiki Island and eight others washed ashore in Tuvalu accidentally in 1861 after weathering a storm and drifting for eight weeks. Elekana stayed and preached locally for several months before going off to Samoa where he studied to become a member of the London Missionary Society (LMS). The LMS returned in force to Tuvalu in 1865 with several Samoan missionaries and successfully evangelized the entire archipelago.

Meyer, Anthony JP.: OCEANIC HEADRESTS / APPUIE-NUQUE OCEANIENS. Catalogue d'exposition. Galerie Meyer, Paris. 2004, fig. 60, P. 90.