Old Fighting Shield, Wahgi Valley

Chris Boylan Oceanic Art

OLD FIGHTING SHIELD, Wahgi Valley.Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea.

140 x 57 x 6 cm

Collected in early 1960s by Graham G Hardy, the Assistant District Officer stationed at Wabag, thereafter by descent.; c. 2006 private collection, Queensland, Australia.

This ancient shield is pre-contact and has more than a dozen arrow points, or arrow holes, from generations of tribal fighting. The size and proportions suggest it originated in the western regions of the Wahgi Valley where shields were typically smaller than those  produced in the larger, wider valley systems of the central and eastern Wahgi Valley. It has the slight curve almost always found on these old shields. Two holes at the top were for a feather decoration secured by the warrior before warfare. In the central area are four small holes used to secure the carrying sling with cane binding through the shield.

The zig-zag vertical design motifs are defined by small holes, punctuated into the smooth surface of the shield. At the centre is a red diamond form from which the white zig-zag lines radiate to suggest a highly stylized anthropomorphic figure. Essentially the design symbolises a man, with the red diamond being the “navel”, and the radiating lines evoke outstretched limbs. This figure is believed to represent an ancestor, possibly an ancestor who died in battle, who will protect the shield carrier, and also to exact revenge upon the enemy.

Multiple layers of pigment are visible, the last colours probably applied for a war shortly before it’s collection date. The back of the shield is smooth and worn and truly shows the ancient nature of this shield. Australian officers confiscated shields in early colonial days as part of policy to reduce tribal fighting, and this is quite possibly the case with this shield, that was then taken back to Australia as a “souvenir.”

$5,000.00

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