PHANTOM SHIELD, Wahgi Valley

Chris Boylan Oceanic Art

     PHANTOM SHIELD, Wahgi Valley, Papua New Guinea Highlands

“Phantom” is emblazoned in red, outlined in black, at the top of the shield. The Phantom figure itself stands strongly, with arms folded and  two pistols on his hips He exudes a calm strength, the strength and determination of a warrior to win; it projects a feeling of invincibility.  This is how the Phantom was viewed by Wahgi warriors, as the ‘Man Who Cannot Die”.  This is written at the base of the shield  within a red scroll. The background is a jungle-like gree.

Comics featuring the Phantom became available in the New Guinea Highlands from the late 1970s onwards and he also featured as comic strips in the one national newspaper, The Post Courier. The Phantom character equated with much of the traditional cosmology of Wahgi culture. For example, he lived in the Skull cave, high in the mountains; this is where ancestors were buried and their spirits eventually gravitated to.  The Phantom became iconic emblem of victory and invincibility to the degree that the first generation of Wahgi Warriors who were literate, began to paint the Phantom (and other “new” motifs) on war shields.

$6,000.00

Artwork details