Dayak shields

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Albert

This is a strange one in my collection.
Extremely simple.
Roughly made.
No rattan bindings.
But it certainly has age!
I am puzzled. Has anyone seen an specimen like this before?

Hello Albert,

What is the size of the shield? If it is smaller as usual it could be a shield of a child (you can find a picture of such in
In Centraal Borneo II from Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis.)


If it's a normal sized shield, we have several possibilities I guess:
A: It could be used in "mock battles";
B: Or it was used as a dancing shield;
C: Plain ones were also put sometimes in dayak graves;
D: It was made for a statue in the village which had the purpose to drive out and keep away bad spirits.


In my opinion it wasn't used for warfare.

Maurice

[Albert]

Originally Posted by Maurice

Hello Albert,

What is the size of the shield? If it is smaller as usual it could be a shield of a child (you can find a picture of such in
In Centraal Borneo II from Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis.)


If it's a normal sized shield, we have several possibilities I guess:
A: It could be used in "mock battles";
B: Or it was used as a dancing shield;
C: Plain ones were also put sometimes in dayak graves;
D: It was made for a statue in the village which had the purpose to drive out and keep away bad spirits.


In my opinion it wasn't used for warfare.

Maurice

The size is: length 118 cm, width 39 cm.
I also added photo's of the backside and the handle.
I think, it is not type B. The dancing shields ususally are more elaborate. I guess, type C or D are the most probable.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Albert

The size is: length 118 cm, width 39 cm.
I also added photo's of the backside and the handle.
I think, it is not type B. The dancing shields ususally are more elaborate. I guess, type C or D are the most probable.

Thank you for the images of the backside and the handle Albert!
I think you're right about "type B".

Regards,
Maurice