Shield

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Description

leather, partly encrusted patina, with punched decorations, handle on the rear, min. dam., slight traces of usage;
these leather shields are made out of cowhide, or out of the hides of elephants or buffalo, and are tapered off to the bottom. The burls and grooves are worked into the leather during the making of the shield. According to old accounts, these decorations were believed to deflect the weapons of the aggressor.

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Comparing literature

Zirngibl, Manfred A., Plaschke, Dieter, Afrikanische Schilde, München 1992, p. 52 f.

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