[RobT]

Hi All,
The original post was a request for information on the origin of the item. I have asked twice for the diameter of the piece. This is a simple request that may be critical to the item's identification but thus far, the original poster has failed to respond. Also note that, although information on the materials used to make the item has been asked for, the original poster has not given any information on same. One would think that, if the original poster is really serious about getting an ID for the item, he would have provided the requested information.

Gavin Nugent,
I don't see a real design correlation between the example provided in your latest link and the item currently under discussion. The design example provided by Ibrahiim Balooshi in that link is strongly geometric with the design and background closely tied together. In short, it looks Islamic. To my eye, the subject of this thread has a far different treatment of design and negative (background) space and that aesthetic looks far more Asian. I also should note that the respondents to that thread were quite divided and a link to an even prior thread didn't lead to any solid consensus either.

My proposal is that the shield started life as a Japanese jingasa worn by a samurai mercenary in South East Asia and was converted by the native population to a buckler. Mercenary samurai were employed all over SEA so jingasa were probably relatively common and a reasonable number became available to native craftsmen for conversion. This would explain why the conversion elements (hand straps and padding) don't work with the original design.

Sincerely,
RobT