689 - African tribal shield, probably Maasai from Kenya/Tanzania, hide, painted red, black and white

African tribal shield, probably Maasai from Kenya/Tanzania, hide, painted red, black and white Hide and wood, African tribal shield, probably Maasai, Kenya/Tanzania, pointed oval shield of hide, the edge sewn over a frame with strips of hide, on the back wooden struts along the long axis as a grip, bound through the shield with hide thongs, hanging loop on one long side. Front painted in red, black and white: both halves with crescent-shaped areas and borders of triangles, between them along the long axis a band with triangular and rectangular fields, back painted red. Condition commensurate with age, rubbed, woodworm in the struts on the back, struts with breaks, 87x60x7 cm (HxWxD). The Maasai are a pastoral people in the grasslands of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania; their warriors' shields are traditionally made of buffalo hide. The red and blue colours were mixed from clays and ash; the patterns, called sirata, arrange crescent forms and zigzag bands symmetrically around a central axis and indicated the bearer's position in the lineage system, a red mark also particular bravery in battle. Such hide shields were carried on raids, on the hunt and at initiation rites; many of the patterns are no longer in use among the Maasai today.