Fine Old New Guinea War Shield Yuat River Lower Sepik River East Sepik Province Papuan New Guinea

Fine Old New Guinea War Shield from the Mundugumor / Biwat people, Yuat River, East Sepik Province, Papuan New Guinea

This is an old and beautiful shield; the carving designs on the front of the shield consist of five well-rendered faces that represent a powerful spirit called Raram.  Old shields were important clan heirlooms and each shield had the personal name of an ancestor.  The superb carving is further brought to life by the infill ochre painting in red, white & black ochres.  The edge of the shield is pierced on both sides from the top to the bottom, with fibre tassels attached as decoration. The back of the shield is highly concave and the handle is upraised and then secured by cane on the top of the handle & a wood bar at the bottom of the handle. In relief carving, such as can be seen on shields, almost every line or band is serrated, creating a dazzling, shimmering effect.

The painted and carved designs were often further accented with the fiber tassels attached to the edges of the shield and beautifully threaded through the pierced noses on the faces.

Sepik Shields conveyed an image of the clan spirits that protected the warrior, their eyes confronting the enemy or any perceived human threat. Each warrior would know the clan symbols of his opponents as well as his own. Seen from a distance, the dramatic colours of the designs emphasized the power that one’s enemies were conjuring up to protect them. When confronting an enemy’s shield in any sort of tribal fight, one confronted the face of the spirit that protected that enemy warrior. Imagine the power of six or ten of these stylized faces of clan spirits glaring at you as you encounter a group of opposing warriors.

Provenance:  Old Collection Australia

The Todd Barlin Collection of Papua New Guinea Oceanic Art

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