Description (Labels & Markings)
A small label glued to the handle at the back reads: 'E 1904.135 b / Shield / Solomon Islands / *Professor Bevan / 1904'. Added later in black ink: 'Z 7211' - this number is incorrect and refers to another shield in MAA's collection.
Event Date 1904
Author: Lucie Carreau

Context (References)
Illustrated in Lucie Carreau. 2016. Collections from the Solomon Islands. Cambridge: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.13275, p.61.
Event Date 2016
Author: Lucie Carreau

Context (Analysis)
One of two shields purchased at the same time. This example has been varnished in the past.
It is a woven cane shield which has been coated with a brown viscous material - possibly resin.
Inset are nacreous shell tablets in geometric designs with a human figure at the top and human face at the bottom.
The tablets are made of Nautilus shell and have been generated in long strips. These have been notched with shallow v-shaped notches along the lengths, and then the strips have been inlaid, scored and snapped in situ. This means that the short edges of the tablets are not notched, but are straight and fit exactly to the adjacent tablet. Once inlaid, the pieces have been abraded/polished and the striations from this run across strips of tablets.
All the material is consistently Nautilus and no pieces show evidence of recycling or deriving from other/older objects.
The components of the faces (eyes, noses, ears) are of Nautilus and follow the same style of shallow notching.
Event Date 10/11/2017
Author: Katherine Szabo

Description (Physical description)
Shield made of woven rattan inlaid with mother-of-pearl. At the back, the wooden handle is bound to seven wooden cross pieces. Traces of black pigmentation at the back.
Event Date 10/11/2017
Author: Lucie Carreau