A Superb Old New Guinea War Shield Asmat People West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

A Superb Old War Shield Jamasj, Asmat People Momogo Village Remote NW Asmat Area, South Coast West  Papua (Indonesia) 

This fine old shield was carved by the master carver Berpitj, a master carver or Wow Ipitsj is an important person in the Asmat society; not only are they artists but ritual experts that bridge the living with their ancestors through ceremonial artworks, including shields.

The physical protection of Shields is only one aspect of their use; shields in New Guinea also play an important ceremonial role & often are the vessel for ancestral spirits and often have a personal name that can be invoked to overpower an enemy.  Shields are often kept in Men’s ceremonial houses along with ancestral relics, old shields are family heirlooms and often have an oral history to them, the owner & their clans’ men often can tell you about every particular arrow or spear embedded in the face of the shield, they know the stories of each battle who might have been wounded or killed & how their shield with its ancestral power frightened or stunned their enemies so that they could be easily overcome.

The main Asmat creation myth is about the creator Fumeripitjs, who was lonely so he carved figures from wood and then he made a drum. When he played the drum the carved wood figures came to life and that is how the first Asmat people were created.  For the Asmat the connection between trees and people and the forest is profound.

The main designs down the centre of the shield are called Tar or Flying Foxes which are related to ritualised headhunting in times past. The designs on this shield are executed solely from the artists memory; he would have learned from watching a previous master carver. The elegant form of the shield is rounded at the top and bottom and has an expressive face of a totemic turtle or Mbu carved at the top.  The way the design is spatially placed on the front looks like it is dancing across the shield; there is great movement in the designs.  The designs are imbued with ancestral powers that will frighten the enemy and make them easy to kill.

Field Collected by Todd Barlin in 1985 at this time Momogo Village was a very remote place in and the people had little contact with the outside world and they spoke virtually no Bahasa Indonesia, it is a long way to visit this very small village of less than 50 people. No missionaries had tried to convert them, as the Maryknoll Catholic Father Vincent Cole, who arrived in Sawa Erma in 1980 wanted them to come to it in their own choice and time.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

Provenance: Exhibited & Published in Oceanic Arts Pacifica: Artworks from The Todd Barlin Collection at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Sydney 2016. 

References:Shields of Melanesia ” 2005 Edited by Harry Beran & Barry Craig

This whole book mainly on New Guinea Shields is one of the best references ever published.

I wrote three chapters in the most important book on New Guinea Shields, ” Shields of Melanesia ” 2005  edited by Harry Beran and Barry Craig.  These were the chapters I wrote for this important reference book including a Chapter on the Asmat & South Coast of West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia. 

3.1 Shields from the North Coast of Western New Guinea: Pages 28- 32 : West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

5.1 The Shields of the Highlands of Western New Guinea : Pages 112- 1117  :  Yali Shields Central Highlands West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia

6.1 Shields from the Southern Lowlands of Western New Guinea: Pages 155-165 : Four areas of the Asmat People and Digul River areas.

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY  showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

I have artwork for Museums and art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and Oceanic Art.  Sydney is very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbours.

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