Beschreibung:

Wood, pigments height 66 3/4in (169.5cm) Provenance: American Private Collection According to Barlin, The northwest Asmat "shields are generally tear-drop shaped and the designs, crowded with numerous repetitions of subsidiary motifs, can be strikingly different from village to village. The main motifs represent the flying fox (tar), the shell nose ornament (bi pane), the heron (pomar) or a wading bird (worot) - all important headhunting symbols. The shields often have a stylised rayfish head a the top, giving the impression of a mouth and eyes; sometimes there is a human figure sculpted at the top." (Shields of Melanesia, 2005: p. 158)