Maasai Warrior’s Shield
Kenya
A shield constructed along a vertical axis, the form organised as a lenticular volume, comprising a single hide stretched over an internal wooden support.
Description
A wooden rib runs the full length of the reverse, secured to the hide by cord lacing at regular intervals and functioning as the hand grip. On the front, this lacing is visible as a continuous vertical line, intersecting a central painted roundel at the shield’s midpoint, rendered in blue and gold with a small painted mark at its centre. The frontal surface is organised in radiating wedges: one half in solid colour bands, the other nesting a chevron-banded pattern within its wedges. The perimeter is bound continuously in whip-stitched hide cordage.
Surface is compact and stable. Abrasion is present at projecting areas and perimeter edges; binding structure and painted surface retained.
Context
Shields of this type function within Maasai pastoral and warrior traditions, where painted surface divisions operate as identifiers within age-set and regional systems.
Provenance
From the Felice Maffei Collection, acquired in Kenya, 1987.
Details
- Title
- Maasai Warrior’s Shield
- Culture
- Maasai
- Origin
- Kenya
- Date
- 20th century
- Dimensions
- H 82 cm (32.3 in) · W 52 cm (20.5 in)
- Medium
- Hide, wood, leather binding, painting pigments
- Provenance
- From the Felice Maffei Collection, acquired in Kenya, 1987.
- Condition
- Surface stable; painted hide and structural elements retained.
