Shield by Unknown artist

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Shield

Artist

Unknown artist
Production Date

Unknown
Medium

wood, pigment
Size

1350 x 440 mm
Credit

Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 1988
Accession Number

C1994/1/289
Accession Date

Jul 1988
Department

International Art
Classification

Object
Collection

Chartwell
Subjects

shields (armor), artifacts
Description

This New Guinean gope (ancestor) board has a paired design of outlined masks, one above the other. The two faces intersect with pictographically rendered birds that are seen in silhouette. While the tribe that carved and painted this shield is currently not known, it is possible that they it is from the southeastern Gulf of Papua. (Te Moananui a Kiwa, 2005)