War shield ·  Papua New Guinea - Keram River · ID: 3038873

Description

wood, white and black pigment, red and yellow ochre, the front carved with three stylized ancestor spirits with concentrical eyes and projecting noses, plant fibre tassels along rim and through pierced septum, rattan ornament with cassowary feathers on the upper rim, four handles backside, slightly dam., missing parts and breakages along rims (above all in the upper area), abrasion of paint;
shields are used in battle as physical protection against arrows and spears but their greatest power and threatening quality comes through the ancestors symbolized on the shields. The dead person after which a shield is named bestows onto the carrier the strength, the courage and the will to fight. The enemy will be so intimidated by the sight of the shield and will be so startled that his only chance of escape will be through flight. At the time when shields were still in use, a village felt powerful when it possessed a large number of shields.

Littérature comparée

Peltier, Philippe et.al., Tanz der Ahnen, Zürich 2015, ill. 197