A Fine Old War Shield, Wahgi Valley, Western Highlands Papua New Guinea

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A Fine Old War Shield, Wahgi Valley, Western Highlands Papua New Guinea

This old and well-used shield was collected in the Wahgi Valley in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea in 1965 -1966 by a geologist working in New Guinea. The bold design is started by a punctated pecking that becomes the outline for the designs that are painted in yellow, white and black colours. This shield has signs of being well used in fighting because of the many arrows and spearheads embedded in the front of the shield. Wahgi Valley Clans have a range of designs that they use on their shields, each design is likely to belong to a specific clan and can be easily recognized by enemies and clansmen alike. Warfare was widespread among traditional enemies in neighboring areas and alliances were made & broken regularly between groups. These large rectangular shields were used in battle by two men, one pushing the shield forward and another warrior hiding behind the shield and free to use his bow and arrows with great accuracy.  Old photos of fighting in the New Guinea Highlands show many warriors with shields facing off over a large space where people surge forward and then move back.  I have seen warriors standing on rural dirt roads with their shields expecting a fight, this was in the 1980;s , later when people acquired guns then shields became obsolete due to their not being effective against modern guns.  This shield has some small village repairs done with rattan which are part of the story of the shield, the overall condition of the shield is very good.  Hanging on the wall in my home it looks amazing.  The shield would have been made in the 1930s as it was old when collected in 1965.

Provenance : The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Papua New Guinea Art

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