AN IMPRESSIVE ASMAT WAR SHIELD

Provenance:  Dick Meijer, Private collection Netherlands,
Galerie Joop Felius, (in the Sixties)
Private Collection Hr J. de Lange Pijnacker, by inheritance Mrs de Lange.
Published in: “Asmat Artists Present”, A collection of Primitive Art and
Etnographic objects.

Among the Asmat, war shields are the most powerful symbolic elements of a warrior’s equipment, and have many layers of meaning. Traditionally, they were functional items used to protect warriors in battle by deflecting an enemy’s spears and arrows. The carved and painted images on the surface of the shields were also intended to frighten the enemy and symbolize the power of the ancestors. Although shields were seen by all, the deepest meanings were only understood by initiated men.

Asmat, Papua, 163 x 44 cm. Good condition
Wood and natural pigments, beginning of 20th century.

Price:  € 6.500,-