Glazed Chinese Ho Ho Boy Headrest, C. 1900

Description

To keep her elaborate hairstyle intact while sleeping, a well-to-do Qing-dynasty woman once used this ceramic headrest as a pillow. … more To keep her elaborate hairstyle intact while sleeping, a well-to-do Qing-dynasty woman once used this ceramic headrest as a pillow. This headrest is shaped in the form of a baby boy, a motif commonly termed "ho ho boy." Children were a popular motif in Chinese art and furniture, and were considered lucky talismans, especially for prospective parents. This ho ho boy headrest may have once been used by an expectant mother, hoping the pillow would give her dreams of a healthy baby. A monochrome white glaze sheets across the exterior and pools in the folds of the sleeping child's clothes. less