April River Shield
Upper Sepik, Papua New Guinea
First half of the 20th century. 163 cm
Wood, pigments, cane and rattan for the handle.
War shields from the upper Sepik are quite rare. An unpublished study by Dr Barry Craig makes an inventory of shields of this region and formaly attributes this type to the April River. This is confirmed by other field collection data. In particular, John Pasquarelli collected a very similar example in 1965 in the area (see 2d photo from the end - Christie's 10 december 2019, lot 37) ) The Barbier-Mueller collection also have a similar but older example I think (last photo).
These shields are big and are of "bean" shape. Made of quite light wood, the front is decorated with deep grooved patterns, with a central motif said to represent coconuts and liana.
Note there is a very convenient suspension hole on the top, so the piece can be perfectly displayed on a wall.
Provenance: American collection.
Price: 4000 euros