Rare war shield "koraibi" ·  Indonesia - West Sumatra, Mentawai Islands, Siberut · ID: 3051979

Description

lightweight wood, red and black pigment, coconut shell,

Until curtailed by the Dutch colonial government around 1905, headhunting was a common practice in Mentawei. A headhunting expedition was obligatory after the completion of a new community longhouse or “uma”. An expedition would set out to a village on one of the neighboring islands or, in the case of Siberut, non-kin related communities would be chosen. These would often avenge past raids by their enemies.

Jerome Feldman remarked on “koraibi” shields: “Warfare and headhunting utilize the fully-armed Mentawai warrior, himself a great display of diverse art forms. He is tattooed, painted, ornamented with feathers and beads, and equipped with armaments that have a unique sense of design”.

Mentawei shields are characterised by their unusual shape, narrow, slightly curved and tapering towards the bottom. They are usually painted on both sides, especially with spiral motifs (“patogalik”). A typical feature is a circular cut-out in the area of the handle, which is closed by coconut shell.

The object Rare war shield “koraibi” with the object ID 3051979 was last part of the auction Auction 104 at April 12, 2025 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 121 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,500.

You can find more Shields and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on Asian art.

Comparing literature

Wiggers, Frank & Bruce Carpenter, Mentawai Art, Singapore 1999, p. 30 f.