Dhal with repair
 

I just won this shield at auction, and I didn't notice until just now that there appears to be a repair on the dhal in the middle of the bottom of the shield. It looks like a pair of metal braces were riveted over a tear in the material. Is this a "traditional" way to repair a shield like this or do you think it was something done at a later point?

I'd also love to know more about the age/origin of this dhal if it's determinable from these pictures.

I'm not sure from exactly where in India this dhal shield originated, but it looks old, and the metal repair seems of some fair age as well.

I've seen very similar repairs to the edges of Beja hide shields from the Sudan.

Thanks. It arrived a couple days ago and the repair does look pretty old. There's a smaller cut right next to it that I guess wasn't large enough to be worth repairing. I wonder how effective these hide shields were at blocking a sword blow. They must have been effective enough since people used them.

Any thoughts on what kind of hide this might be? The black outer layer is chipping and peeling off in many places revealing a yellowish layer below.

The outer layer is some form of tar,pitch or paint,

The leather could be rhino, elephant, sambar or other lesser deer or buffalo but as painted , treated etc is probably lesser deer or buffalo.

Ive seen such repairs before & believe yours to be period & ethnographic...

Spiral