Description & Technical information
Mendi Area, Southern Highlands, PNG, Melanesia. Wood-carved with non-metal tools. 76 x 30,5 cm. 19/20th century or earlier.
An extremely rare archer’s war-shield, decorated with an incised stylized representation of a human figure wearing a kina shell chest ornament and stylized body paint or keloid “tattoo”. The original fiber carrying strip is still attached (lower knot missing).
Date: 19/20th century or earlier
Period: 1750-1850, 1850-1900, 19th century, 20th century
Origin: Melanesia
Medium: Wood
Dimensions: 76 x 30.5 cm (29⁷/₈ x 12 inches)
Provenance: Ex coll. : De Belfond, Limoges, France; collected during an expedition in the 1950/60’s. Musée des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, Paris, deposit number D.94.1.58. This exceptional shield was on loan from the De Belfond collection to the MAAO for an exhibition in 1994 and was inventoried as a long-term deposit thus the museum inventory number painted on the reverse.
Categories: Tribal Art
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