Title
Wörrumbi (shoulder shield)
mid 20th century
collected 1969
Artist
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Details
- Place where the work was made
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Kiburu
→
Mendi River
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Southern Highlands Province
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Papua New Guinea
- Cultural origin
- Mendi people
- Dates
- mid 20th century
collected 1969 - Media category
- Arms & armour
- Materials used
- wood, punctated designs, white, red and blue pigments, vine sling
- Dimensions
- 128.0 x 43.0 x 2.0 cm
- Credit
- Purchased 1977
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 266.1977
- Copyright
- © Mendi people, under the endorsement of the Pacific Islands Museums Association's (PIMA) Code of Ethics
- Artist information
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Mendi people
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, warfare between Mendi tribes and clans was rife. Wooden fighting shields were commonly carried in mass battles, where fighters decorated their bodies with oil, paint, feathers and leaves. The 'wörrumbi' was carried by bowmen in open lines of combat. Carved from a solid piece of hardwood, and slung from the shoulder by a strap threaded through the centre of the shield, the 'wörrumbi' was very effective against bone-tipped arrows and spears.
'Wörrumbi' shields are noted for their distinctive ridge or 'mesha' (spine). This forms a central axis for pecked, incised and painted forms that symmetrically cover the surface. The designs are believed to represent anthropomorphic figures and they are typically coloured with red ochre and white mineral pigment traded in from the west. This shield also has two small holes at the top to which bird plumes were secured.
[Exhibition text for 'Plumes and pearlshells: art of the New Guinea highlands', AGNSW, 2014]
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Exhibition history
Shown in 3 exhibitions
Art of Oceania: Seventh Adelaide Festival of Arts 1972, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 03 Mar 1972–25 Mar 1972
Aboriginal and Melanesian art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Oct 1974 -
Plumes and pearlshells: art of the New Guinea highlands, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 30 May 2014–10 Aug 2014
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Bibliography
Referenced in 3 publications
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John Baily., Special exhibitions at the Art Gallery of South Australia: Seventh Adelaide Festival of Arts 1972, 'Art of Oceania', Adelaide, 1972. cat.no. 104; not paginated
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Tony Tuckson, Melanesian art, Sydney, 1966, 30 (illus.), 50. H26; titled 'Shield'
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Natalie Wilson (Editor), Plumes and pearlshells: art of the New Guinea highlands, Sydney, 2014, 93 (colour illus.), 161. cat.no. 37
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