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#1 |
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 143
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This shield i picked up the other day , oromo tribe i believe , its very heavy thick hide , maybe hippo ? i guess its 19th century ,difficult to date , im note sure if these were ever made for tourist trade ? whats your thoughts
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#2 |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Wirral
Posts: 1,204
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I like this very much !
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#3 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 1,614
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Very nice shield, and there is not much to add to what you wrote. I doubt there was a vibrant tourist sector in Southern Ethiopia in the 19th century, and to me this looks like intended for actual use, even if just ritual.
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 2,145
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Beautifull and as said previously, it could be end of 19th or early 20th c. African like yemeni objects are difficult to date precisely.
I like the old repair, probably done by a spear and repaired later, definitively not tourist ![]() |
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#5 |
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 841
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This one is real. There is "new"/later handle fastening.
Currently they started to produce also imitations for tourists, but this is not the case. You can find old photos here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...040#post240040 |
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#6 |
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 841
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Now I think they were (also) used by various peoples from Sidama and Arusi regions, maybe up to Bale Mountains ..., also allegedly Wolayta people and others (but now round, more classic shield is attributed on internet to Wolayta...). So "Oromo" is probably "not too much exact".
There were various modifications of this kind of shield from heavy, nearly round to smaller of more oval shape (for horseman ?), with rolled up rim or normal, with carved ornamentation to the skin or smooth ... |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
Posts: 4,408
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it appears and is described on various references as hippo hide..
please see https://www.pinterest.com/pin/108367...59740/?lp=true and at https://www.hamillgallery.com/ETHIOP...nShield08.html ~ where shades of red colouring were added apparently on the front surface which were intricately decorated being hammered over a wood former . |
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#8 |
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Czech Republic
Posts: 841
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The red colour was allegedly added when the owner of the shield killed an enemy or a dangerous animal (also on "Amaro/Ometo" shields)
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