Shield ·  Tanzania, Kerewe · ID: 3037099

Description

light wood (ambatch tree), bright patina with faint remains of black paint, cut out of a board, flat at the bottom and slightly rounded on top, carved with triangular motifs in flat relief, loop of plant fibre for carrying now missing, slightly dam., traces of old age and weathering;
very old and very rare form of shields !
The Kerewe mainly live on Ukerewe, which is the largest island in the southeast section of Lake Victoria. The production and use of this lightweight wood shield, according to Plaschke/Zirngibl, probably ended in the first decades of the 20th century. Travellers to these islands in Lake Victoria reported around 1940 that they were hardly any longer to be found.

Comparing literature

Zirngibl, Manfred A. & Dieter Plaschke, Afrikanische Schilde, München 1992, p.78 f.