Ceremonial shield ·  Westneuguinea / Westpapua (Irian Jaya), Asmat · ID: 3040606

Description

wood, red and white pigment, slightly vaulted corpus, tapering to the top, carved with “bipane” (nose ornament) motif in mirrored pairs, raised middle ridge on the backside instead of a handle, slightly dam., missing part at the rim, cracks;
the shields were named after deceased ancestors (represented by the carved head at the top), who should bestow onto the carrier/owner strength and courage and should protect him. Additional shields had magical attributes, which elevated them to the rank of a ceremonial object.