Aboriginal "Rain Forest" Shield, Australia

Aboriginal "Rain Forest" Shield, Australia
height 40in (101.5cm)

Provenance
French Private Collection

Bård R. Aaberge notes, 'The big, beautifully decorated, fighting shields and one-handed swords are distinctive features belonging to the Aboriginal Rainforest Cultures between Ingham in the south, Bloomfield River in the north, inland to the Herbert River and on the mountain ranges of the Atherton Tablelands. The swords and shields were used in big social gatherings to settle disputes and legal conflicts between different tribes as well as between individuals. Smaller painted shields and matching swords were used in "play" or ceremonial dances. [...]

[...] White, yellow and red clays, as well as charcoal mixed with oil, water or human blood providing a black colour, were painted with a fray ended lawyer cane to make the designs on the shields. Two initiated men would paint the design simultaneously according to traditional custom.

All the painted designs had a known symbolic meaning derived from objects that played an intimate part of life; tools, weapons, various fish and animals hunted for food, edible seeds, medicinal plants, as well as less intimate objects such as stars and comets.' (Aboriginal Rainforest Shields of North Queensland, Cairns Historical Society and Museum 2009)

Carved from the trunk of a native fig tree in a skewed elliptical form with a carved out handle on the back and raised rectangular knob on the front center, decorated on the front with a diamond geometric design in blue, ochre, white and mustard pigments; fine aged patina.