Shield "ishilunga" · South Africa, Zulu · ID: 3050164
sold
EUR 450
Provenance
Alexander Kubetz (1946-2023), Munich, GermanySize
H: 77,5 cm (shield) / 123,5 (pole)
H: 30.5 inch (shield) / 123,5 (pole)
Description
spotted cowhide, wooden pole,
The origin of these shields is usually traced back to the famous warrior-king Shaka Zulu. However, it was probably his mentor, Dingiswayo, who reorganised the Zulu army into age regiments and introduced these cowhide shields.
After the disintegration of the Zulu Empire with the decisive defeat against the British at the Battle of Ulundi in 1879, the shields were no longer used in battle, but only for ceremonial purposes.
Comparing literature
Barbier, Jean Paul & Purissima Benitez-Johannot, Shields, Munich, London, New York 2000, p. 124, ill. 45