SHIELDS AND BOARD LIKE STUCTURES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| DM0063SHM Western Highlands Shield (FRONT)more... | DM0063SHM (REAR) | DM0078SHM Western Highlands Shield (FRONT) more... | DM0078SHM(REAR) | DM00142SHM Western Highlands Shield (FRONT)more... | DM00142SHM (REAR) | DM00142SHM (REAR) DETAIL of eye protection |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| DM00129SHM Western Highlands Shield (FRONT)more... | DM00129SHM(REAR) | DM00128SHM Western Highlands Shield (FRONT)more... | DM00128SHM (REAR) | DM00128SHM FIELD PHOTO WITH OWNER /ARTIST IN HIGHLANDS PNG | DM0064SHM Western Highlands Shield (FRONT)more... | DM0064SHM(REAR) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| DM00137SHM MODEL of Western Highlands Shield (FRONT)more... | DM00137SHM (REAR) | DM0068SHM Southern Highlands SIDE/SHOULDER Shield (FRONT)more... | DM0068SHM (REAR) | DM0067SHM Southern Highlands Shield(FRONT)more... | DM0067SHM (REAR) | DM0086SHM Southern Highlands Shield (FRONT) more... |
Catalogue #_DM___0063SHM____________
Item WESTERN HIGHLANDS SHIELD SENGLAP SUBCLAN WAHGI
Dimensions: Ht.= 166cm L.= 50cm W.= 2cm
Description (physical):
Painted in house paints this shield has a beautiful colour coordination of yellow red white and black. The Yellow is painted in side triangles and the red is in the top and bottom triangle with a black stripe or cross band and a red stripe alongside theblack furthermost from the triangles.There is a band of white dots between the red triangle and the black stripe. This shield is symmetrical both through the horizontal middle and vertical middle.The shield has a Left handed strap and a cloth central loop. There is evidence of embedded arrowheads in this shield
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield was collected in North wall area of the Western Highlands of New Guinea. It was crafted by the SENGLAP sub clan from the WAHGI valley . The designs and décor on the front are common on Western Highland shields. The design on the front has triangles meeting in the center of the shield with a band across the middle horizontal.
This shield is a series two as defined on page 42 (Lowman /Alland jr) with a horizontal band across the middle but it must be pointed out that this shield is a WAHGI VALLEY shield and not a MARING shield as were all the Lowman /Alland jr shields.
This shield is called a transition shield for a couple of reasons. It is made using the traditional methods but it is painted not using the traditional ochres and has more modern materials (cloth and metal) use in it's manufacture. Another reason is the fact that the area that this shield was collected in had resumed fighting after the Australian authorities had suppressed it (see walkabout magazine 1942) and had destroyed the majority of the old shields at the time of suppression. Those shields that were not destroyed were put to other uses ,such as beds or used as platforms.
In the late 1960's while still under Australian Administration warfare again broke out in all the Highland Provinces and so shields again resumed manufacture.The majority of shields from the Western Highlands even if old have been 'ouched up' by the warriors to be seen from a distance re Lowma and have even had the designs on them changed or painted over with more contemporary motifs.
Acquired from a Sydney dealer 1999
Similar shields illustrated in plus reading about Western Highlands shields:
Reading the Skin-Adornment display and society among the Wahgi M O'Hanlon
1989 Crawford House Press
Coloured Plate 16 Warrior and shield going to the battlefront near Minj 1986
Paradise Portraying the New Guinea Highlands M. O'Hanlon 1993 Crawford House Press
Figure 27 page 61 Fig.31 page 65(reverse of shield) Fig 32 page 66 Fig33 page 67 Fig 49 page 79 Fig.50 page 80 PLATES 11, 13 &14
The Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute Vol.1 no#3 Sept 1995 Article "Modernity and the 'graphicalization' of meaning: New Guinea Highland Shield Design in Historical Perspective.
Fig 1 page 473 OLD SHIELD PHOTO BY LEAHY (Huge cassowary plumes)
Fig 2 Drawings of Wahgi shield motifs page 475 Fig 3 page 480
Fig.4 page 482 Fig 5 page 483 Fig 6 page 484 Fig 7 page 485
Tribal Arts IV:3/1997 C.Boylan & G.North
Fig. 16 page 78 (phantom shield) Fig. 17 page 79
Shields of Melanesia OAS edited by H Beran & B. Craig 2005 Crawford House
Pages 140-142 Fig.5.38 page 150 (metal)
Fig. 5,26 Mt Hagen Fig 5.28 Simbu (Chimbu)
The artifacts and Crafts of Papua New Guinea Fig. 70 page 12
Aboriginal and Melanesian Art Art Gallery of NSW 1973
Fig H99 page 34 (Eastern Highlands Chimbu)
Kunst und Kultur aus Der Sudsee W.Stohr
Rautenstrauch- Joest Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Koln
Fig (Abb) 120 page 128 War shield of the Mbowamb Mt Hagen Central Highlands.#51827
British Museum Pattern Books Pacific Designs R. Jewell and J. Lloyd 1998 Brit Museum Press PLATE 54 3 shields collected by M.O'Hanlon for Paradise Exhibition
Art Papou 2000 Marseille by Alain Nicolas(ed)
Fig 201 page 214 (Eastern Highlands) Fig 203 page 215
New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from The Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Freide Volume I
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in assoc. with 5 continents editions 2005
Cat# 587 page 618 representing the Phantom
Displays of Power -Art and War among The Marings of New Guinea Cherry Lowman and Alex Alland Jr.
Museum of Primitive Art 1973
Illustrations of shields from the exhibition throughout and analysis of design
Walkabout Australia's Geographic Magazine November 1942 Vol.9 #1
Article by Leigh G. Vial "They Fight For Fun" page 4 -9 with photo of mock battle page 6 and 7 Huge greenery atop the shield on page 6 around 3/4 to full length the height again of the shield. Shield on page 7 and cover of magazine shows great native repair and the warrior holding the shield has feather headdress about half the height of the shield depicted.
'Oceanic Art" 1995 N. Thomas page 25 fig. 17
Catalogue #_DM 0078SHM_
Item__WESTERN HIGHLANDS SHIELD_
Dimensions: Ht.=163cm W.=62cm D.=2cm
Description (physical):
Wooden shield with evidence of rattan binding along the top an four holes in the center again with rattan woven in a cross. .Decorated with ochres in brown with a white line horizontally through the middle. Top and bottom has 'D' shaped in white traces of tan ochre around the white. The rear of the shield has a left hand strap in rattan from top to bottom. The shield has a cassowary stem with the plume hooked into the rattan weave at the top of the shield.
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
When a shield has a cassowary plume it is dressed for battle. This is probably the most traditional shield I have from the Wahgi Valley as it is decorated using ochres which were superceded for the brighter house paints.
This was the first Western Highlands shield I bought. It is decorated in its original ochres and has never been repainted in house paints.
Bought in 1998
Similar shields illustrated in plus reading about Western Highlands shields:
Reading the Skin-Adornment display and society among the Wahgi M O'Hanlon
1989 Crawford House Press
Coloured Plate 16 Warrior and shield going to the battle front near Minj 1986
Paradise Portraying the New Guinea Highlands M. O'Hanlon 1993 Crawford House Press
Figure 27 page 61 Fig.31 page 65(reverse of shield) Fig 32 page 66 Fig33 page 67 Fig 49 page 79 Fig.50 page 80 PLATES 11 ,13 &14
The Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute Vol.1 no#3 Sept 1995 Article "Modernity and the 'graphicalization' of meaning :New Guinea Highland Shield Design in Historical Perspective.
Fig 1 page 473 OLD SHIELD PHOTO BY LEAHY(Huge cassowary plumes)
Fig 2 Drawings of Wahgi shield motifs page 475 Fig 3 page 480
Fig.4 page 482 Fig 5 page 483 Fig 6 page 484 Fig 7 page 485
Tribal Arts IV:3/1997 C.Boylan & G.North
Fig. 16 page 78 (phantom shield) Fig. 17 page 79
Shields of Melanesia OAS edited by H Beran & B. Craig 2005 Crawford House
Pages 140-142 Fig.5.38 page 150 (metal)
Fig. 5,26 Mt Hagen Fig 5.28 Simbu (Chimbu)
The artifacts and Crafts of Papua New Guinea Fig. 70 page 12
Aboriginal and Melanesian Art Art Galery of NSW 1973
Fig H99 page 34 (Eastern Highlands Chimbu)
Kunst und Kultur aus Der Sudsee W.Stohr
Rautenstrauch- Joest Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Koln
Fig (Abb) 120 page 128 War shield of the Mbowamb Mt Hagen Central Highlands.#51827
British MuseumPattern Books Pacific Designs R. Jewell and J. Lloyd 1998 Brit Museum Press PLATE 54 3 shields collected by M.O'Hanlon for Paradise Exhibition
Art Papou 2000 Marseille by Alain Nicolas(ed)
Fig 201 page 214 (Eastern Highlands) Fig 203 page 215
New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from The Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Freide Volume I
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in assoc. with 5 continents editions 2005
Cat# 587 page 618 representing the Phantom
Displays of Power -Art and War among The Marings of New Guinea Cherry Lowman and Alex Alland jr.
Museum of Primitive Art 1973
Illustrations of shields from the exhibition throughout and analysis of design
Walkabout Australia's Geographic Magazine November 1942 Vol.9 #1
Article by Leigh G. Vial "They Fight For Fun" page 4 -9 with photo of mock battle page 6 and 7 Huge greenery atop the shield on page 6 around 3/4 to full length the height again of the shield.Shield on page 7 and cover of magazine shows great native repair and the warrior holding the shield has feather headdress about half the height of the shield depicted.
'Oceanic Art" 1995 N. Thomas page 25 fig. 17
Catalogue #_DM__00142 SHM___
Item__WESTERN HIGHLANDS SHIELD__(transitional)
Dimensions: Ht.=172cm L.= 55cm W.=1.5cm
Description (physical):
Wooden shield with painted decoration in house paints. Paint colours black, white,red, brown and sandy yellow . Paint discoloured in areas and worn away. Notched top painted a dark brown where rattan binding would have been approx three cm from top. Wire a in the middle of the shield is not crossed. The reverse of the shield has a metal circle in the middle at eye level. The top has a strip of metal about four centimetres from the top. The centre has a crescent shapes metal plaque above the metal attaching.
The reverse is unpainted. It had formally a lefthand strap from top to bottom.
The front f the shield has a great design. The top fifth has an upside down red triangle central with two brown triangles rightway up edged with white and then black. Then the outer edge has a white serrated line and then sandy triangles. Below this is a red band running horizontally across the shield with white dots.
The middle section of the shield has a central red diamond .This has six triangles ,three on either side of the diamond .A line of yellow dots and a red band run across the shield horizontally .below which is a red triangle two brown and two sandy . All of which are unedged.
The central part of the shield has the words 'MAROONS' written in white edged with red.
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield was collected in Wahgi Valley of the Western Highlands of New Guinea. It was one of the tallestshields I bought for my collection. The designs and décor on the front are fairly common on Western Highland shields. The central writing on this shield has a rugby league connotation. The words maroon signify the rugby league team for Queensland's State of origin team.
This shield is called a transition shield for a couple of reasons. It is made using the traditional methods but it is painted not using the traditional ochres and has more modern materials (metal) use in it's manufacture. Another reason is the fact that the area that this shield was collected in had resumed fighting after the Australian authorities had suppressed it (see walkabout magazine 1942) and had destroyed the majority of the old shields at the time of suppression. Those shields that were not destroyed were put to other uses ,such as beds or used as platforms.
In the late 1960's while still under Australian Administration warfare again broke out in all the Highland Provinces and so shields again resumed manufacture.
Acquired from a Sydney dealer 2002
Similar shields illustrated /reading about Western Highlands shields:
Reading the Skin-Adornment display and society among the Wahgi M O'Hanlon
1989 Crawford House Press
Coloured Plate 16 Warrior and shield going to the battlefront near Minj 1986
Paradise Portraying the New Guinea Highlands M. O'Hanlon 1993 Crawford House Press
Figure 27 page 61 Fig.31 page 65(reverse of shield) Fig 32 page 66 Fig33 page 67 Fig 49 page 79 Fig.50 page 80 PLATES 11, 13 &14
The Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute Vol.1 no#3 Sept 1995 Article "Modernity and the 'graphicalization' of meaning: New Guinea Highland Shield Design in Historical Perspective.
Fig 1 page 473 OLD SHIELD PHOTO BY LEAHY (Huge cassowary plumes)
Fig 2 Drawings of Wahgi shield motifs page 475 Fig 3 page 480
Fig.4 page 482 Fig 5 page 483 Fig 6 page 484 Fig 7 page 485
Tribal Arts IV:3/1997 C.Boylan & G.North
Fig. 16 page 78 (phantom shield) Fig. 17 page 79
Shields of Melanesia OAS edited by H Beran & B. Craig 2005 Crawford House
Pages 140-142 Fig.5.38 page 150 (metal)
Fig. 5,26 Mt Hagen Fig 5.28 Simbu (Chimbu)
The artifacts and Crafts of Papua New Guinea Fig. 70 page 12
Aboriginal and Melanesian Art Art Gallery of NSW 1973
Fig H99 page 34 (Eastern Highlands Chimbu)
Kunst und Kultur aus Der Sudsee W.Stohr
Rautenstrauch- Joest Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Koln
Fig (Abb) 120 page 128 War shield of the Mbowamb Mt Hagen Central Highlands.#51827
British Museum Pattern Books Pacific Designs R. Jewell and J. Lloyd 1998 Brit Museum Press PLATE 54 3 shields collected by M.O'Hanlon for Paradise Exhibition
Art Papou 2000 Marseille by Alain Nicolas(ed)
Fig 201 page 214 (Eastern Highlands) Fig 203 page 215
New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from The Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Freide Volume I
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in assoc. with 5 continents editions 2005
Cat# 587 page 618 representing the Phantom
Displays of Power -Art and War among The Marings of New Guinea Cherry Lowman and Alex Alland Jr.
Museum of Primitive Art 1973
Illustrations of shields from the exhibition throughout and analysis of design
Walkabout Australia's Geographic Magazine November 1942 Vol.9 #1
Article by Leigh G. Vial "They Fight For Fun" page 4 -9 with photo of mock battle page 6 and 7 Huge greenery atop the shield on page 6 around 3/4 to full length the height again of the shield. Shield on page 7 and cover of magazine shows great native repair and the warrior holding the shield has feather headdress about half the height of the shield depicted.
'Oceanic Art" 1995 N. Thomas page 25 fig. 17
Catalogue #_DM_00129SHM
Item___WESTERN HIGHLANDS SHIELD
Dimensions: Ht.=146cm W.=51cm D.=1.5cm
Description (physical):
Wooden shield with rattan binding along the top and four holes in the centre. The centre holes have metal chain crossing. The front of the shield has a two joined red triangles edged with white below which is a crescent or boomerang red shape again edged in white. The middle of the shield has a spear painted in white paint through the middle vertical below which is a reverse crescent to the top one. The crescent is red edged with white. Below this in the bottom fifth of the shield are painted two axes with white handles edged ,red blades edged with white.below this is a red wavy motif or triangular pattern edged in white with a white strip 3cm deep below running the width of the base of the shield. The shield has a crack running top to bottom that can be more clearly seen on the reverse.
The reverse can clearly see the crack and the handle is strapped for a right handed warrior.The loop on this shield is cloth. The field of the rest of the front of the shield is black which due to the shiny patina on the reverse can clearly be seen as scorching or carbon from a fire.
Evidence of fighting on this shield with embedded arrowheads.
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield has a limited palette in colours. The motifs couldn’t be more war like with the spear and axes. Axes Being carried into battle according to Lowman (1973) only in the most serious man to man combat.
This old shield has much repair and I suspect that shields not only are sold in times of truce. Indeed M.O'Hanlon (1993) states that he couldn’t get shields in some areas due to the lack of fighting so they were not being made. Old damaged shields are I suspect easier for their owners to part with as they may need to be replaced anyway in areas where fighting with shields still takes place.
Acquired in 2001
Similar shields illustrated in plus reading about Western Highlands shields:
Reading the Skin-Adornment display and society among the Wahgi M O'Hanlon
1989 Crawford House Press
Coloured Plate 16 Warrior and shield going to the battle front near Minj 1986
Paradise Portraying the New Guinea Highlands M. O'Hanlon 1993 Crawford House Press
Figure 27 page 61 Fig.31 page 65(reverse of shield) Fig 32 page 66 Fig33 page 67 Fig 49 page 79 Fig.50 page 80 PLATES 11 ,13 &14
The Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute Vol.1 no#3 Sept 1995 Article "Modernity and the 'graphicalization' of meaning :New Guinea Highland Shield Design in Historical Perspective.
Fig 1 page 473 OLD SHIELD PHOTO BY LEAHY(Huge cassowary plumes)
Fig 2 Drawings of Wahgi shield motifs page 475 Fig 3 page 480
Fig.4 page 482 Fig 5 page 483 Fig 6 page 484 Fig 7 page 485
Tribal Arts IV:3/1997 C.Boylan & G.North
Fig. 16 page 78 (phantom shield) Fig. 17 page 79
Shields of Melanesia OAS edited by H Beran & B. Craig 2005 Crawford House
Pages 140-142 Fig.5.38 page 150 (metal)
Fig. 5,26 Mt Hagen Fig 5.28 Simbu (Chimbu)
The artifacts and Crafts of Papua New Guinea Fig. 70 page 12
Aboriginal and Melanesian Art Art Galery of NSW 1973
Fig H99 page 34 (Eastern Highlands Chimbu)
Kunst und Kultur aus Der Sudsee W.Stohr
Rautenstrauch- Joest Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Koln
Fig (Abb) 120 page 128 War shield of the Mbowamb Mt Hagen Central Highlands.#51827
British MuseumPattern Books Pacific Designs R. Jewell and J. Lloyd 1998 Brit Museum Press PLATE 54 3 shields collected by M.O'Hanlon for Paradise Exhibition
Art Papou 2000 Marseille by Alain Nicolas(ed)
Fig 201 page 214 (Eastern Highlands) Fig 203 page 215
New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from The Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Freide Volume I
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in assoc. with 5 continents editions 2005
Cat# 587 page 618 representing the Phantom
Displays of Power -Art and War among The Marings of New Guinea Cherry Lowman and Alex Alland jr.
Museum of Primitive Art 1973
Illustrations of shields from the exhibition throughout and analysis of design
Walkabout Australia's Geographic Magazine November 1942 Vol.9 #1
Article by Leigh G. Vial "They Fight For Fun" page 4 -9 with photo of mock battle page 6 and 7 Huge greenery atop the shield on page 6 around 3/4 to full length the height again of the shield.Shield on page 7 and cover of magazine shows great native repair and the warrior holding the shield has feather headdress about half the height of the shield depicted.
'Oceanic Art" 1995 N. Thomas page 25 fig. 17
Catalogue #_DM__00128SHM_____________
Item________WESTERN HIGHLANDS SHIELD
Dimensions: Ht.=150cm W.=50cm D.=1.5cm
Description (physical):
A wooden shield with a rattan strap woven across the top. Wire used to attach the holding strap to the shield in the middle and the side . Tin or metal coverings over old holes on one of the sides( left hand side as you look at the shield) Painted on the front in house paints of red burgundy dark green and light green. Painted four fifths of the front lower fifth possibly painted in sump old which has now soaked in. Old evidence of use on the front with arrowheads embedded and markings /scuffing on the front. With metal wire used to repair a crack in the bottom going up through the shield about two thirds.
The reverse of the shield has a small metal handle to aid in manoeuvring and a small plastic handle in the side strap. The rest of the strap is made of rattan or rushes as is the loop strap. There is evidence that this shield has had more than one owner as the side strap is now in position for a right handed warrior but has at some point been set up for a left handed warrior.
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield is a particular favourite as when I bought it I noticed that the owner /artist had the same first name as me -Dominic Mond. It was not bought by me in the field but it was sold with a photo of the artist /owner.
I also love the subtle colour hues and the decorative style. The top triangles are almost Christmas like in their set up.
I used to think that more modern shields were subject to cracking due to the loss of skill in making and preparing them and so had to be repaired more frequently but I have an article by Leigh G. Vial in Walkabout magazine of 1942 with a picture on the cover of the magazine showing native repair to very similar though more sever crack in the middle of a shield. It is clear that the value of a shield was not lessened by cracking or damage
Leigh G. Vial was a patrol officer in the Highlands just after their discovery in 1933.He took several photos of shields and warriors decorated for combat which were reproduced in the Walkabout magazine in 1942.The photos were evidently taken very shortly after contact with Europeans and show a remarkable "unchangedness" in the look to the more recent shields includig the pecked designs seen through the painted decoration over the top. They do show a difference in the painted designs on the front of the shields. They may also have been more spectacularly decorated on the rattan top row with leaves and cassowary plumes. One shield in particular photographed by Vial has the most extraordinary leaved decoration on the top . The shields I own have grass or cassowary plumes decorating them or at least the remnants of such decorating but nothing as robust and spectacular. This shield is undecorated by way of grass or plumes and was sold that way by the owner / artist.
This shield was acquired from a Sydney dealer in July 2001
Catalogue #_DM___0063SHM____________
Item WESTERN HIGHLANDS SHIELD SENGLAP SUBCLAN WAHGI
Dimensions: Ht.= 166cm L.= 50cm W.= 2cm
Description (physical):
Painted in house paints this shield has a beautiful colour coordination of yellow red white and black. The Yellow is painted in side triangles and the red is in the top and bottom triangle with a black stripe or cross band and a red stripe alongside theblack furthermost from the triangles.There is a band of white dots between the red triangle and the black stripe. This shield is symmetrical both through the horizontal middle and vertical middle.The shield has a Left handed strap and a cloth central loop. There is evidence of embedded arrowheads in this shield
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield was collected in North wall area of the Western Highlands of New Guinea. It was crafted by the SENGLAP sub clan from the WAHGI valley . The designs and décor on the front are common on Western Highland shields. The design on the front has triangles meeting in the center of the shield with a band across the middle horizontal.
This shield is a series two as defined on page 42 (Lowman /Alland jr) with a horizontal band across the middle but it must be pointed out that this shield is a WAHGI VALLEY shield and not a MARING shield as were all the Lowman /Alland jr shields.
This shield is called a transition shield for a couple of reasons. It is made using the traditional methods but it is painted not using the traditional ochres and has more modern materials (cloth and metal) use in it's manufacture. Another reason is the fact that the area that this shield was collected in had resumed fighting after the Australian authorities had suppressed it (see walkabout magazine 1942) and had destroyed the majority of the old shields at the time of suppression. Those shields that were not destroyed were put to other uses ,such as beds or used as platforms.
In the late 1960's while still under Australian Administration warfare again broke out in all the Highland Provinces and so shields again resumed manufacture.The majority of shields from the Western Highlands even if old have been 'ouched up' by the warriors to be seen from a distance re Lowma and have even had the designs on them changed or painted over with more contemporary motifs.
Acquired from a Sydney dealer 1999
Similar shields illustrated in plus reading about Western Highlands shields:
Reading the Skin-Adornment display and society among the Wahgi M O'Hanlon
1989 Crawford House Press
Coloured Plate 16 Warrior and shield going to the battlefront near Minj 1986
Paradise Portraying the New Guinea Highlands M. O'Hanlon 1993 Crawford House Press
Figure 27 page 61 Fig.31 page 65(reverse of shield) Fig 32 page 66 Fig33 page 67 Fig 49 page 79 Fig.50 page 80 PLATES 11, 13 &14
The Journal of The Royal Anthropological Institute Vol.1 no#3 Sept 1995 Article "Modernity and the 'graphicalization' of meaning: New Guinea Highland Shield Design in Historical Perspective.
Fig 1 page 473 OLD SHIELD PHOTO BY LEAHY (Huge cassowary plumes)
Fig 2 Drawings of Wahgi shield motifs page 475 Fig 3 page 480
Fig.4 page 482 Fig 5 page 483 Fig 6 page 484 Fig 7 page 485
Tribal Arts IV:3/1997 C.Boylan & G.North
Fig. 16 page 78 (phantom shield) Fig. 17 page 79
Shields of Melanesia OAS edited by H Beran & B. Craig 2005 Crawford House
Pages 140-142 Fig.5.38 page 150 (metal)
Fig. 5,26 Mt Hagen Fig 5.28 Simbu (Chimbu)
The artifacts and Crafts of Papua New Guinea Fig. 70 page 12
Aboriginal and Melanesian Art Art Gallery of NSW 1973
Fig H99 page 34 (Eastern Highlands Chimbu)
Kunst und Kultur aus Der Sudsee W.Stohr
Rautenstrauch- Joest Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Koln
Fig (Abb) 120 page 128 War shield of the Mbowamb Mt Hagen Central Highlands.#51827
British Museum Pattern Books Pacific Designs R. Jewell and J. Lloyd 1998 Brit Museum Press PLATE 54 3 shields collected by M.O'Hanlon for Paradise Exhibition
Art Papou 2000 Marseille by Alain Nicolas(ed)
Fig 201 page 214 (Eastern Highlands) Fig 203 page 215
New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from The Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Freide Volume I
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in assoc. with 5 continents editions 2005
Cat# 587 page 618 representing the Phantom
Displays of Power -Art and War among The Marings of New Guinea Cherry Lowman and Alex Alland Jr.
Museum of Primitive Art 1973
Illustrations of shields from the exhibition throughout and analysis of design
Walkabout Australia's Geographic Magazine November 1942 Vol.9 #1
Article by Leigh G. Vial "They Fight For Fun" page 4 -9 with photo of mock battle page 6 and 7 Huge greenery atop the shield on page 6 around 3/4 to full length the height again of the shield. Shield on page 7 and cover of magazine shows great native repair and the warrior holding the shield has feather headdress about half the height of the shield depicted.
'Oceanic Art" 1995 N. Thomas page 25 fig. 17
Catalogue #_DM__00137SM
Item MODEL WESTERN HIGHLAND SHIELD
Dimensions: Ht.=32cm L.=12.5cm W.=6cm
Description (physical):
Carved wooden shield with evidence of rattan binding along the top an four holes in the center .Right hand side of the shield has two rattan straps one top one bottom for attaching a rattan strip. The front of the shield carved in triangles the carved lines infilled with white or black. The fields between the lines are coloured(faded) with black and red. Writing in black in the topmost triangle reads "GRINMUNG GRAET(sic) WAR 1985." Reverse of shield concave with date 1985 written in ink
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
These shields are made to sell to tourists and I originally thought this piece was unique but recently saw a photo taken by a collector in the Highlands showing the people of a village with the objects they were trying to sell.Many of these were shileds similar to this but ranging in sizes similar to DM00137 and as much as three feet tall. The writing on this shield links it to a year and a clan so making referencing easier than some other Western Highland shields.
Acquired in 2000
Similar shields illustrated in plus reading about Western Highlands shields:
Reading the Skin-Adornment display and society among the Wahgi M O'Hanlon
1989 Crawford House Press
Coloured Plate 16 Warrior and shield going to the battle front near Minj 1986
Paradise Portraying the New Guinea Highlands M. O'Hanlon 1993 Crawford House Press
Figure 27 page 61 Fig.31 page 65(reverse of shield) Fig 32 page 66 Fig33 page 67 Fig 49 page 79 Fig.50 page 80 PLATES 11 ,13 &14
The Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute Vol.1 no#3 Sept 1995 Article "Modernity and the 'graphicalization' of meaning :New Guinea Highland Shield Design in Historical Perspective.
Fig 1 page 473 OLD SHIELD PHOTO BY LEAHY(Huge cassowary plumes)
Fig 2 Drawings of Wahgi shield motifs page 475 Fig 3 page 480
Fig.4 page 482 Fig 5 page 483 Fig 6 page 484 Fig 7 page 485
Tribal Arts IV:3/1997 C.Boylan & G.North
Fig. 16 page 78 (phantom shield) Fig. 17 page 79
Shields of Melanesia OAS edited by H Beran & B. Craig 2005 Crawford House
Pages 140-142 Fig.5.38 page 150 (metal)
Fig. 5,26 Mt Hagen Fig 5.28 Simbu (Chimbu)
The artifacts and Crafts of Papua New Guinea Fig. 70 page 12
Aboriginal and Melanesian Art Art Galery of NSW 1973
Fig H99 page 34 (Eastern Highlands Chimbu)
Kunst und Kultur aus Der Sudsee W.Stohr
Rautenstrauch- Joest Museum Fur Volkerkunde, Koln
Fig (Abb) 120 page 128 War shield of the Mbowamb Mt Hagen Central Highlands.#51827
British MuseumPattern Books Pacific Designs R. Jewell and J. Lloyd 1998 Brit Museum Press PLATE 54 3 shields collected by M.O'Hanlon for Paradise Exhibition
Art Papou 2000 Marseille by Alain Nicolas(ed)
Fig 201 page 214 (Eastern Highlands) Fig 203 page 215
New Guinea Art - Masterpieces from The Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Freide Volume I
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco in assoc. with 5 continents editions 2005
Cat# 587 page 618 representing the Phantom
Displays of Power -Art and War among The Marings of New Guinea Cherry Lowman and Alex Alland jr.
Museum of Primitive Art 1973
Illustrations of shields from the exhibition throughout and analysis of design
Walkabout Australia's Geographic Magazine November 1942 Vol.9 #1
Article by Leigh G. Vial "They Fight For Fun" page 4 -9 with photo of mock battle page 6 and 7 Huge greenery atop the shield on page 6 around 3/4 to full length the height again of the shield.Shield on page 7 and cover of magazine shows great native repair and the warrior holding the shield has feather headdress about half the height of the shield depicted.
Catalogue #_DM__0068 SHM___
Item__SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS MENDI SHIELD_
Dimensions: Ht.=99cm L.= 26.5cm W.=2cm
Description (physical):
Wooden shield with the front having carved and pecked designs coloured in red and black with the remnants of white in some areas. The front design is a series of triangles with a v or chevron both top and bottom.
The rear of this shield is undecorated and is painted simply in black.
The attachment holes are top and bottom along the vertical. The handle is made of rope
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield was bought with a lable stating that it is from the Karel village in the Upper Mendi Valley. It is similar in design to a shoulder shield but is certainly the smallest of the shoulder shields I own. It has a decorative front but I have not found any arrow heads.
The position of the attachment holes top and bottom are more similar to the notched shields of the Southern Highlands elayaborr but the design and shape are more like the worrumbi shields. I would like to know more details about these types of shields and would be interested in knowing where they are described and illustrated.
Bought in 1999
Other similar shields illustrated in:
Shields of Melanesia ed. Harry Beran and Barry Craig 2005 pages 135 through to 140 with numerous illustrations
I also own a book THE KUTUBU DISCOVERY by Frank Rickwood OBE 1992 which has fantastic illustrations of a larger Worrumbi Plate 25 shows a traditional burial north of Pio in 1955and the shield is used having two holes cut into the front where the skulls can be seen
Plate 20 shows a Worrumbi and a larger black bark shield at a defensive palisade near the entrance to a village in the Nembi valley in 1953.
Tribal Arts IV:3/97 page 73-84 Article “Highlands Art of New Guinea” by C. Boylan and G North
Catalogue #_DM__0067 SHM___
Item__SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS MENDI SHIELD_
Dimensions: Ht.=125cm L.= 41cm W.=3cm
Description (physical):
Wooden shield WORRUMBI with the front having carved and pecked designs coloured in red and black.The front has a series of small and larger triangles decoration it. It has a ridge from top to bottom known as a spine. It is symmetrical on both sides of this ridge apart from the bottom half. The front is dark and has red paint sometimes called “Sing-Sing”paint or face decorating paint filling the carved lines. As well as the top large and smaller triangles.
The front of this shield has what could be a large arrow head or a spear tip embedded in it.
The rear of this shield is undecorated and is painted simply in black.
The attachment holes are along the horizontal. The handle is made of nylonrope
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield was bought with a label stating that it is from the Yorai village in the Mendi Valley. I would love to know more about these types of shields as I have limited information or documentation about them.
Bought in 1999
Other similar shields illustrated in:
Shields of Melanesia ed. Harry Beran and Barry Craig 2005 pages 135 through to 140 with numerous illustrations
I also own a book THE KUTUBU DISCOVERY by Frank Rickwood OBE 1992 which has fantastic illustrations of a larger Worrumbi Plate 25 shows a traditional burial north of Pio in 1955and the shield is used having two holes cut into the front where the skulls can be seen
Plate 20 shows a Worrumbi and a larger black bark shield at a defensive palisade near the entrance to a village in the Nembi valley in 1953.
Tribal Arts IV:3/97 page 73-84 Article “Highlands Art of New Guinea” by C. Boylan and G North
Catalogue #_DM__0086 SHM___
also C50 from another unknown collection
Item__SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS MENDI SHIELD_
Dimensions: Ht.=118.5cm L.= 39cm W.=1.5cm
Description (physical):
Wooden shield WORRUMBI with the front having carved designs . The designs infilled in white pigments.The front has a series of small and larger triangles decoration on the top and is symmetrical both along the horizontal and vertical axis.
The rear of this shield has the evidence of having carving begun but stopped and is totally unpainted
The attachment holes are in the middle and along the horizontal . The handle is made of rattan or vegetal rope.
Description (ethnographic/ historic including provenance)
This shield was bought from a Sydney dealer. At the time several collectors of shields and tribal were present and the shield was the topic of the convesation. Generally it was thought that this shield was stone carved due to the notch tear type of marks on the shield. Metal chisels just notch cleanly but with stone implements generally the carver digs into the wood and tears off the rest of the notch.It was also discussed that the fact that this shield is missing the medial ridge. Two reasons were put forward for this. The first was that shield could have come from one of the areas that dont always have spines. The second is that the non-ridged shields predate those with spines and do so due to the type of hard wood used. I would love to know more about these types of shields as I have limited information or documentation about them.
Bought in 1999
Other similar shields illustrated in:
Shields of Melanesia ed. Harry Beran and Barry Craig 2005 pages 135 through to 140 with numerous illustrations
I also own a book THE KUTUBU DISCOVERY by Frank Rickwood OBE 1992 which has fantastic illustrations of a larger Worrumbi Plate 25 shows a traditional burial north of Pio in 1955and the shield is used having two holes cut into the front where the skulls can be seen
Plate 20 shows a Worrumbi and a larger black bark shield at a defensive palisade near the entrance to a village in the Nembi valley in 1953.
Tribal Arts IV:3/97 page 73-84 Article “Highlands Art of New Guinea” by C. Boylan and G North