Could it be a wooden headrest?

I picked this up at a thrift store for a few bucks, thought it was a little chair or footstool, but a friend told me it is probably some kind of head rest. Maybe Egyptian or African. Does anyone know if it could be old?

6/5/15 : I got a response from an email I sent out to someone who has an African Art site. His response :

It's an Asante/Ashanti stool from Ghana. It probably isn't very old, and it was made for the tourist or collectors market and not for traditional use. It is based off of a traditional stool but traditional stools were light in color and generally didn't have metal or beads on them.

It's a nice decorative object though.