Rare shield ·  D. R. Congo, Mongo · ID: 3040028

Description

wood, blackish brown patina, two parallel ridges running vertically through the centre, carved handle, slightly dam., abrasion of paint;
the Mongo mainly made basketry shields with characteristic parallel stiffening rods that run alongside the midrib. The wooden shield seems to imitate that style. Dieter Plaschke and Manfred Zirngibl note that early collectors may have rejected these unpainted wooden shields in favour of the woven ones. This could partly explain why there are not many Mongo wooden shields in European collections.

The object Rare shield with the object ID 3040028 was part of the auction 83rd Tribal Art Auction on May 28, 2016. The object with the lot number 437 achieved a sales price of EUR 900 with an asking price of EUR 600.

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Comparing literature

Barbier, Jean Paul, Benitez-Johannot, P., Shields, Munich, London, New York 2000, p. 76 f.