Headrest Set, c. 1880, wood and velvet, 6.5 inches high (headrest), Gertrude Dempster, 1982.5.1.1-.4.
A Japanese headrest set that includes a padded headrest, an abacus, a candle stand, and storage box. The pad would have been placed onto the abacus section for sleeping purposes in the interest of supporting elaborate hair styles. This object belonged to Rev. Thomas Coke Carter of Carroll County, TN, twin brother of the donor’s grandfather, a missionary at Jiujiang, China (on the Yangtze River) in the Jiangxi Province.