201031 - Antique Tribal Used African Ethiopian Amhara shield - Ethiopia

Antique Tribal Used African Ethiopian Amhara shield - Ethiopia

Diameter: 42 cm. 

A convex round metall shield, of the type of the Ethiopian highlands. With  covered with dark green velvet on the front and richly decorated with ornamented brass elements: an arched shield boss, as well as 4 hemispheres, rectangles, bands and individual elements of brass, cut, hallmarked and engraved. Attached with decorative nails of brass. The reverse is covered with red-dyed cotton. A central handle made of iron. The shield is in very good condition, with only minor age damage. First half 20th century.

See a similar example in the Musee Dapper's CHASSEURS ET GUERRIERS; AFRICA: The Art of a Continent, edited by Tom Phillips, (See p. 126 in the above-referenced volume and also, p. 69 in African Shields by Dieter Plaschke and Manfred A. Zirngibl,) see also Marc Ginzberg. AFRICAN FORMS, pp. 168, 171