Fighting shield · Papua New Guinea - Highlands, Western Highlands, Maring · ID: 3039346
Michael Auliso, San Francisco, USA
Description
wood, brown patina, black pigment, plank, rounded on top, painted with steeply rising jags with drilled contours, arranged mirror-inverted above and below a horizontal band in the middle of the shield, two drilled holes for plant fibre handle (now missing), slightly dam. (along edges), fine cracks, abrasion of paint, traces of old age and usage (scratches);
Maring warriors intended bright colours in shield designs to be impressive and frightening. These large, painted surfaces would appear massive when displayed in groups, in motion, and at a distance. They would have generated fear that the enemy might have greater military power. With present object however colours are strongly faded.
Comparing literature
Beran, Harry & Barry Craig (ed.), Shields of Melanesia, Honolulu 2005, p. 146, ill. 5.32