A Superb Old New Guinea Shield Asmat People Irian Jaya West Papua Todd Barlin Collection

A Superb Old New Guinea War Shield from the Asmat People on the Upper Elianden River area in Remote Eastern Asmat Area, South Coast West Papua (Indonesia), Early 20^th Century 

This beautiful old shield with striking deeply incised circular designs & highlighted with red and white ochre. The back of the shield has a fine dimpled surface and an old patina from long use. The shield was most likely carved with stone tools,  the people in this area of the Upper Eilanden & Brazza River were still using stone axes when I visited & were extremely excited to get steel axes, machetes & knives, at this time the upper Eilanden River area was a very remote place in and the people had little contact with the outside world and they spoke no Bahasa Indonesia and only came out of the forest to the riverside when they heard outboard engines on canoes hoping to trade for steel axes. No missionaries had tried to convert them yet as they were still living nomadic and free in their forest & built houses in the tree tops for protection both from other tribes and also from mosquitoes who don’t live up in trees.

The physical protection of Shields is only one aspect of their use, shields in New Guinea also play an important ceremonial role & often are the vessel for ancestral spirits and often have a personal name that can be invoked to overpower an enemy.  Shields are often kept in Men’s ceremonial houses along with ancestral relics, old shields are family heirlooms and often have an oral history to them, the owner & their clans’ men often can tell you about every particular arrow or spear embedded in the face of the shield, they know the stories of each battle who might have been wounded or killed & how their shield with its ancestral power frightened or stunned their enemies so that they could be easily overcome.

The main Asmat creation myth is about the creator Fumeripitjs who was lonely so he carved figures from wood and then he made a drum, when he played the drum the carved wood figures came to life and that is how the first Asmat people were created.  For the Asmat the connection between trees and people and the forest is profound.

This shield has always been my favorite shield and has been in my home since it arrived from the village.

Provenance: Collected by Todd Barlin 1985-86

Published: The Shields of Melanesia by Crawford House Press 2005 Page 161 Figure 6.8 (above)

Exhibited: The Shields of Oceania 2000 Sydney College of the Arts at Sydney University at the Pacific Arts Festival for the 2000 Sydney Olympics (see photos below)

Exhibited: Oceanic Arts Pacifica: Oceanic Art for the Todd Barlin Collection 2014 Casula Power House Arts Centre Sydney  

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY  showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

I have artwork for Museums and art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and Oceanic Art.  Sydney is very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbours.

INQUIRE HERE

If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer 

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us