Carved and Decorated Nguni Zulu African Shield. Depicts three animals and a figure in a boat. Antelope at the top. Elephant in the center. Figure rowing a boat under that. Bird at the bottom. Red center with black and light brown details. 

Size: 12 3/4 x 40 x 3 3/4 in. 

#2645 #11 . 

A Nguni shield is a traditional pointed oval-shaped ox or cowhide shield which is used by various ethnic groups among the Nguni people of southern Africa, particularly the Zulu and Xhosa. The shields had numerous applications, with different names for each one. War shields were traditionally stockpiled by a chief or king to demonstrate their loyal numbers and distributed before battle, while smaller shields were reserved for the personal daily hunting use of his subjects, or as a complement at their dancing ceremonies. For the Zulu the large war shield, nearly five feet in length, is known as an isihlangu, which means “to brush aside” and was King Shaka’s shield of choice during hand-to-hand fighting.  The umbumbuluzo was also a war shield, but only three-and-a-half feet in length, and considered more sturdy than the isihlangu, though less honorable to use. The ihawu is a small to medium-sized shield, about two feet in length, used at dances. The ihubelo is a larger shield used for hunting, smaller than isihlangu, but larger than the ihawu. The igqoka is a small, less-decorated shield for courting, and the igabelomunye is the smallest decorative shield, which may be used as an accessory to dancing or as a gift to honor a special occasion. A shield was carried in the left hand, the only piece of defensive armor used by the Nguni. Its use was practiced from boyhood during stick fighting, and was primarily for deflecting spears or arrows, but they were also carried during lion or leopard hunts. Particularly skilled warriors used the isihlangu to knock opponents off balance, or to deftly hook their shield away with the pointed end in order to stab them with their spear. Shields were also used to disguise their numbers and confuse their enemies, and the largest ones acted additionally as protection from the weather and to form bivouac shelters when the armies were camped. Its use drastically declined when firearms were introduced to hostilities, losing all usefulness once lions and leopards were nearly hunted to extinction. Although the carving and decoration of your own shield was once a respected act every Xhosian male was expected to accomplish, artisans have dwindled and now work exclusively to make them for diviners in ceremonies and for symbolic purposes, as well as producing them for the growing tourist market.

Small chips.