Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


111 - East African (Somali) Leather Buckler (Shield) with Inked Design

A leather shield with a domed front of dark richly embossed leather and a reverse (grip) side of lighter leather with an inked geometric design in red and black. The shield is just over 14 inches (36 cm.) in diameter and measures 1¾ inches (4.5 cm.) in elevation from the back side of the rim to the central high point. Thickness including the handle is 3 2/3 inches (9.2 cm.). The shield is in an excellent state of preservation with only a mild degree of warpage and some very shallow cuts to the face. Lew dated this as circa 1890, but other observers favor a dating to the first half of the 20th century. Weight is 36 ounces.




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