A Fine Old First Australian Shield From Lagrange Bay Area West Australia

A Fine Old First Australian Shield From Lagrange Bay Area West Australia

This finely carved old shield is from the La Grange Bay Area of Western Australia and dates from the early 20th Century.

The shield has finely incised interlocking key designs only on the back of the shield where the lug handle is.  The back of the shield is undecorated except for the red ochre decoration that was applied to both the front and back sides.

These designs are unique in Australia to Karadjeri People of the La Grange Bay Area of the Northeast Coast of Western Australia. This design is also found on the famous pearl shell ornaments called “Longka Longka” from this area.

One of the most interesting motifs in aboriginal Australian decorative art is the interlocking key design, a design prominent at one time or another in many parts of the world, including ancient Greece, China, and Peru.

This design is also sometimes found on Spear Throwers but it is on the back of the Karadjeri shields where the design is executed in the most elegant manner,

Reference: Interlocking Key Design in Aboriginal Australian Decorative Art. Dr. D. S. Davidson. First published: September 1949

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Aboriginal and Oceanic Arts

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