oceania | Papua New Guinea
Shield
Papua New Guinea
Vayola shield
Massim area, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea
Late 19th century
Wood and pigments
Height: 70 cm – 27 ½ in.
Provenance
Ex museum collection, The Netherlands
Ex collection Loed Van Bussel, Amsterdam
Ex private collection, Paris
Massim Vayola shield 70 cm / Galerie Flak
Price: on request
These war shields called Vayola were reserved for high-ranking warriors from the Trobriand Islands (Massim area). As stated in the catalogue of the 2019 "Oceania" exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, these shields were made of slabs of acacia wood and delicately painted on a white ground with motifs associated with war magic.
According to Jerry W. Leach (The Kula: New Perspectives on Massim Exchange, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pp. 135-8), Vayola shields were not used in ordinary skirmishes but in formal, pre-arranged warfare, at designated battlefields. Their use stopped in 1899 due to the suppression of warfare by the mission and colonial administration.
According to Jerry W. Leach (The Kula: New Perspectives on Massim Exchange, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pp. 135-8), Vayola shields were not used in ordinary skirmishes but in formal, pre-arranged warfare, at designated battlefields. Their use stopped in 1899 due to the suppression of warfare by the mission and colonial administration.
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