Basketry-covered wooden shield with four "umbo"

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Description

wood, vegetable fibre, goatskin,

These shields are mainly equipped with only one wooden hump “umbo”. But there are also those with two or three humps. A shield with four “umbo”, on the other hand, is exceedingly rare !

They were carried by the Ganda north of Lake Victoria and by the Soga in the district of Busoga to the northeast of the Lake. Their makers were the boatbuilders of these tribes, skilled not only in working with wood, but also in doing the traditional wickerwork on the shields.

On account of the high artistic quality of their workmanship and their elegant wickerwork ornamentation, many of these shields had already come into the possession of European museums before the the end of the 19th century.

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Comparing literature

Zirngibl, Manfred A. & Dieter Plaschke, Afrikanische Schilde, München 1992, p. 87 ff.

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Publications

Zirngibl, Manfred A. & Alexander Kubetz, "panga na visu", Riedlhütte 2009, p. 233, ill. 558

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