Menu
A Fine Old New Guinea Shield Asmat People West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia
Enquire About This Artworks >
| Collection No. | TB-4145 |
|---|---|
| Size | 128cm x 39cm |
A Fine Old New Guinea Shield from the Asmat People West Papua Irian Jaya Indonesia Home Page Link https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/
This beautiful old and well-used shield was collected by me in Djakapis in 1985. At that time Djakapis village was one of the most remote villages in the North West Asmat Area.
Asmat Shields were important objects that venerated their ancestors, each shield had a personal name and when invoked during warfare the enemy was said to be frightened or stunned and easy to kill. 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 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 shield’s owner in the field photograph has his name recorded along with the name of the carver of the shield. Also at this time, there was still sporadic tribal fighting with Irogo and Pupis villages generally over the kidnapping of women which is their only way to increase their genetic pool in small village populations. Djakapis is a small village of less than 50 people.
I spent a lot of time in the Asmat region in the early 1980s and old and used Shields of this quality in the Coastal and Northwest Asmat Areas were rare. Many of the artworks I field collected then are now in major museum collections around the world including The Musee du Quai Branly Museum in Paris, when you walk into the Oceanic Art Pavilion at The Musee du Quai Branly the first thing you see is the monumental ancestor poles from the Asmat & Mimika along with Dance Costumes Shields and large Soul Canoe, all of these were field collected by me. Originally they were in an exhibition ” Asmat et Mimika at The National Museum of African and Oceanic Art in 1996 (now that museum is part of The Musee du Quai Branly). The exhibition the Asmat and Mimika in 1996 was published in the prestigious Louvre Museum Magazine see the link below and a photo of the exhibition above.
See my Shields Gallery Link Here https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/fine-tribal-art/new-guinea-tribal-art-oceanic-art/oceanic-shield/
See my new exhibition gallery https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/about-us-museum-quality-new-guinea-tribal-arts/exhibition-and-publications/ 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.
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
