Miniature shield ·  Ethiopia, Oromo · ID: 3036887

Description

leather, conical vaulted form, two bronze studs influenced by Arabian sources holding the handle at the back, min. dam., traces of usage;
of unusual design, the shield was carried by the Oromo (Galla), in southern Ethiopia, as well as by the peoples of Somalia. Similar miniature versions, which were probably made on a lathe, were also used in ritual knife fights in the bordering area of southern Arabia across from the East Horn of Africa.

Comparing literature

Zirngibl, Manfred A. & Dieter Plaschke, Afrikanische Schilde, München 1992, p. 58, ill. 42