Massai shield

kronckew · 22nd February 2009, 11:31 AM

of course the 'cleaner' ones like the runners are carrying are so bright because they repainted them as needed. the second one with the full head fur and the seme thru the belt had a 'well used' look, but was still showing remnants of the original colors. i remember seeing an old restored film of a masai lion hunt, the shields were big enough for the warrior to hide under if knocked over by a lion. see 2nd photo below.

this is what i meant by the childrens/tourist ones:

this is an old photo, i assume late 19th early 20thc.

p.s. - i updated the storage on the middle picture of the guy in the 'head fur' in my earlier post as it was not showing this morning...

a common theme i'm noting here is the 'real' ones, old and new have a number of points where the facing hide is tied to the backing/grip stick, which is enhanced on some of them by the painting, some dotted there or a zig-zag pattern. the touristy ones are only so tied just above and below the grip. the ones in the last black & white photo remind me of the roman auxilliary & cavalry shields of similar oval design and size.

my only shield is not african tho.

kronckew · 22nd February 2009, 12:15 PM

aha! found the video clip on youtube. it's an old 30's film with horribly bad hollywood stage sets, but they have interspaced old film footage from a real maasai lion hunt. lots of maasai shields and shield handling.

Linky to lion hunt clip

stekemest · 22nd February 2009, 01:25 PM

Hi kronckew,

Thank you. So the shield I posted is most likely tourist stuff?
Sorry I still don't fully understand.

Peter

kronckew · 22nd February 2009, 02:06 PM

es tut mir leid, aber ja, ich denke das ist fur touristen gemacht.

sorry for the poor german.

stekemest · 22nd February 2009, 02:25 PM

Your German is great, no mistake there.

Thank you very much kronckew.

Peter

Martin Lubojacky · 23rd February 2009, 08:08 AM

Hi Stekemest,

This is definitely tourist piece.

Ragerds,

Martin

VANDOO · 23rd February 2009, 05:33 PM

THE OLD SHIELDS ACTUALLY USED WHEN SPEARING LIONS WERE NOT FLAT BUT HAD SOME EDGES AND WERE CURVED SORT OF LIKE A SHALLOW BOAT SHAPE. THEY HAD SOME WEIGHT AND WERE THICK AND REINFORCED BY THE WOODEN FRAMEWORK AND WERE LARGE ENOUGH TO COVER THE WARRIOR WHEN HE CROUCHED DOWN.
THE ONES I HAVE HANDLED MADE TODAY ARE MUCH MORE FLIMSY AND FLAT AND ARE MOSTLY FOR CEREMONIES OR DANCES. THEY ARE ALSO CARRIED BY YOUNG BOYS DURING THEIR INITIATION CEREMONIES TO BECOME WARRIORS. I DON'T KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT THE INITIATION BUT HAVE SEEN THE BOYS CARRING THEIR SHIELDS AND STICKS AND WEARING A DIFFERENT COSTUME AND WITH WHITE PAINT OR ASHES ON THEIR FACES IN TANZANIA. YOUR EXAMPLE WOULD FALL INTO THESE LAST TWO CATAGORIES AND LIKELY IS FOR INITIATION AS I BELIEVE THOSE ARE DISCARDED WHEN THE BOY BECOMES A MAN AND WARRIOR.

THE INITIATION SHIELD I HAVE IS 31.5 X 22 INCHES AND BASICALLY FLAT

22nd February 2009, 11:31 AM	#1
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	of course the 'cleaner' ones like the runners are carrying are so bright because they repainted them as needed. the second one with the full head fur and the seme thru the belt had a 'well used' look, but was still showing remnants of the original colors. i remember seeing an old restored film of a masai lion hunt, the shields were big enough for the warrior to hide under if knocked over by a lion. see 2nd photo below. this is what i meant by the childrens/tourist ones: this is an old photo, i assume late 19th early 20thc. p.s. - i updated the storage on the middle picture of the guy in the 'head fur' in my earlier post as it was not showing this morning... a common theme i'm noting here is the 'real' ones, old and new have a number of points where the facing hide is tied to the backing/grip stick, which is enhanced on some of them by the painting, some dotted there or a zig-zag pattern. the touristy ones are only so tied just above and below the grip. the ones in the last black & white photo remind me of the roman auxilliary & cavalry shields of similar oval design and size. my only shield is not african tho. Last edited by kronckew; 22nd February 2009 at 11:55 AM.

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22nd February 2009, 12:15 PM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	aha! found the video clip on youtube. it's an old 30's film with horribly bad hollywood stage sets, but they have interspaced old film footage from a real maasai lion hunt. lots of maasai shields and shield handling. Linky to lion hunt clip

22nd February 2009, 01:25 PM	#3
stekemest Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Posts: 183	Hi kronckew, Thank you. So the shield I posted is most likely tourist stuff? Sorry I still don't fully understand. Peter

22nd February 2009, 02:06 PM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	es tut mir leid, aber ja, ich denke das ist fur touristen gemacht. sorry for the poor german.

22nd February 2009, 02:25 PM	#5
stekemest Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Posts: 183	Your German is great, no mistake there. Thank you very much kronckew. Peter

23rd February 2009, 08:08 AM	#6
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 843	Hi Stekemest, This is definitely tourist piece. Ragerds, Martin

23rd February 2009, 05:33 PM	#7
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	THE OLD SHIELDS ACTUALLY USED WHEN SPEARING LIONS WERE NOT FLAT BUT HAD SOME EDGES AND WERE CURVED SORT OF LIKE A SHALLOW BOAT SHAPE. THEY HAD SOME WEIGHT AND WERE THICK AND REINFORCED BY THE WOODEN FRAMEWORK AND WERE LARGE ENOUGH TO COVER THE WARRIOR WHEN HE CROUCHED DOWN. THE ONES I HAVE HANDLED MADE TODAY ARE MUCH MORE FLIMSY AND FLAT AND ARE MOSTLY FOR CEREMONIES OR DANCES. THEY ARE ALSO CARRIED BY YOUNG BOYS DURING THEIR INITIATION CEREMONIES TO BECOME WARRIORS. I DON'T KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT THE INITIATION BUT HAVE SEEN THE BOYS CARRING THEIR SHIELDS AND STICKS AND WEARING A DIFFERENT COSTUME AND WITH WHITE PAINT OR ASHES ON THEIR FACES IN TANZANIA. YOUR EXAMPLE WOULD FALL INTO THESE LAST TWO CATAGORIES AND LIKELY IS FOR INITIATION AS I BELIEVE THOSE ARE DISCARDED WHEN THE BOY BECOMES A MAN AND WARRIOR. THE INITIATION SHIELD I HAVE IS 31.5 X 22 INCHES AND BASICALLY FLAT