Philippine Bagobo War Shield, Moro, Mindanao (Item 2)

Description

An extraordinary shield most likely dating the mid 19th century ! It features a beautiful flowing hourglass form and is decorated with channels of incised decoration with applied black paint. It is embellished with dramatic plumes of long flowing horse hair in addition to the shorter plugs of Pig's hair? The two horizontal wood slates which are lashed with rattan gave the shield added strength and clearly indicate that it was used for fighting as opposed to a "dancing". What makes this shield so special is that it is complete and retains its original top horizontal bar which is almost always missing from these shields. It has a very old smoky patina acquired from years of age and use. In very good condition for its age except for a small old chip to the bottom of the back side. The back side is marked with numerous old numbers in pencil, black paint and paper labels. The paper label reads HDV F 64 , to the right of that reads E.T. 70-1-18 in black painted letters. There are also three markings in pencil which reads 1005 . The marks are located inside the handle and to the right and left of the handle hole. Don't miss this chance to own a very early and beautiful example of this scarce type of shield.

Origin: S. Philippines, Mindanao, Bagobo People