Old ?? african shield

[francantolin]

Hello dear members,

I please need the advice of african connaisseurs !

I reserved this ethiopian shield,
not my area of collection but I find it
really nice with his decorations made of coins and nails,

The question: it was sold as an antique one made with hippo leather.

It's nice but is ( TOO MUCH ?! ) in good conditions...
the coins are coming from all country: germany, french african and arabian countries...

So I'm not sure it's an old one...

For the central deco coins, I could read that one was dating from 1980 so...
Just scrap / recent item ?

or I wonder if the central deco is recently made on an old ( early 20th ?)
shield ?

What about the leather ?...

Kind regards

[Tim Simmons]

Looks rather recently made but very nice. Saying that does not mean it is not a good genuine and quality piece. Stick fighting with shields like is is a big sport in many parts of Africa and I believe especially Ethiopia. It is a very nice shield made for use.

[francantolin]

Hello and thank you Tim for you comment !

It was not too expensive as I sometimes saw in internet auctions
but didn't cost nothing ... 250-300 Euros... if it was just a ''fake''...

Have you / has someone an idea of which ''tribe''/ region it can come from ?
I saw oromo shields who looks a little like, but just a little...

I forgot: diameter: 60cm

Kind regards

[francantolin]

I know we don't talk about money in the forum,
but moreless,
do you think the price range is ok ?

[Ian]

I know we don't talk about money in the forum,
but moreless,
do you think the price range is ok ?Please take discussion of prices to PM or email. Thanks guys.

[roanoa]

Puzzling... I can see an Ethiopian coin. But.... The general appearance suggests Ethiopian. With the exception of how the handle is fastened to the shield. The knots are hidden. The inside of the shield is also too smooth. So this is my guess (??). TWO layers of thin leather glued together...… Tourist piece. Just a thought!

[francantolin]

Hello Roanoa,

thank you,
yes seems really perfect leather...
indeed we can't see how is fixed the handle ?
But I repeat , it's not my area !
so I thought it could be normal...

I will see in the borders if it's made of two pieces...

[Martin Lubojacky]

Hello Francantolin,

Unfortunatelly, this is purely touristic piece, probably made in Addis Ababa, and made recently. This one resembles Oromo shield. I think they started to make such copies ca 15 years ago.

Coins: Originally, coins were not used to decorate shields in Ethiopia. Any flat metal ornaments used to be attached to the surface of the shield by piercing the leather through (never by gluing).

Handle mounting: Method of attachment (exact type of the node) is always visible in the case of original (except of the cases when it is covered by metal bulge).

Material: In the case of original, you can always see how the thick leather is bent along the perimeter of the sield circle - on the reverse side. Covering this bends with plasticine materials was not in use (the same in the case of the handle mounting). I was informed by Ehiopian wendors that they used mixture of glue and wood sawdust during the production of such copies.

Export of original shields from Ethiopia is officially prohibited since I remeber (last 25 years for sure; - nevertheless, this fact is not significant for determining the authenticity of the shields.)

Best regards,
Martin

[francantolin]

Thank you Martin !!