Rare war shield "koraibi" ("kurabit") ·  Indonesia - Sumatra (West), Mentawai Islands · ID: 3047815

Description

lightweight wood, red and black pigment, coconut shell, missing parts (long sides)

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”), complemented by lizards and human figures in “rock painting style”. 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” (“kurabit”) with the object ID 3047815 was part of the auction 96th Auction on April 24, 2021. The object with the lot number 83 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,900 with an asking price of EUR 800.

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.