Telefomin area Shield, Faiwol
Even though I made six or seven trips to the Telefomin area back in the 1990s and early 2000s, there is no one on earth who knows more about the area, the people and their art than Barry Craig. So, I am slavishly relying on his research and thankfully personal communications whenever a new shield or doorboard comes my way--you can read Craig’s essay on the “War Shields of Central New Guinea” Here. The present shield is a beauty and popped out of the blue from a fellow in Virgina who found it in a storage locker he won in an auction à la the Storage Wars tv show.
Upon purchase I immediately reached out to Barray Craig who thought the shield was from the Faiwol culture south of the Telefomin with the design suggesting a Bolobip or Angkeiakmin village attribution.
Craig notes that the Telefomin do not place a meaning on a shield design but do identify individual parts—the spirals as eyes, the large diamond areas as solar plexus and the narrower wedge shapes as ribs. Craig takes this anthropomorphic design as a metaphor for the ancestors (Craig, 1988, p. 57).
While carved with metal tools the carving is deep and bold and notice three native repairs to close a vertical crack. The shield has great visual impact and is large at 67” (170.1 cm) in height. It dates to the early 20th century and the price is available upon request.