Breast Shield Ramu River Area Madang Province Papua New Guinea

Breast Shield Ramu River Area Madang Province Papua New Guinea 19th Century 

This ancient stone-carved Breast Shield is from the Josephstaal area in the Middle Ramu River area of Madang Province Papua New Guinea.  This is a rare type of shield that a man wore over his chest to protect from arrows. It must have hung around his neck with a rope from the two worn holes seen in the photo. Its hard to see the very old designs incised to the upper part of the shield, it looks much better in real life.

Provenance: Collected by Andy Kugler in 1967. Kugler was working in the upper Sepik Area at the same time that Douglas Newton the curator of Oceanic Art at The Museum of Primitive Art in New York the forerunner of The Micheal Rockefeller Wing of Oceanic Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Kugler had much of his collection on loan with The Museum of Primitive Art and some of these artworks were published in the famous book on the upper Sepik cultures: ” Crocodile & Cassowary ” 1971 by Douglas Newton.

The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Papua New Guinea Art

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