Turtle shield

Berkley · 13th August 2010, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fearn

My guess is Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh).

Because of the design's resemblance to the Nepalese surya/chandra symbol, and the fact that softshells also occur in Nepal, I think that is another strong possibility.

Battara · 14th August 2010, 03:56 AM

I agree that this could be Indian or Nepalese. Both have major Hindu populations, and in Hinduism the crescent moon usually represents Siva and the fish I think an avatar of Visnu - a symbol of good luck in any case.

M ELEY · 15th August 2010, 02:25 AM

Hate to mention "Fagan & Co", but over the years, I've seen three tortoise shell shields. One was like this one, with the cresent bosses and listed as E Indian. Another was very primitive, with just an outer lining of strip metal and listed as Sudanese (shell was tan/sand-colored). A final shield was odd-shaped and made from flattened shell and listed as "Persian". For lack of a better word, it spanned out from the middle into a butterfly shape. Very nive piece you have!

M ELEY · 16th August 2010, 10:46 PM

Correction on last. The final shield of turtle shell was listed as Madhist. I just went back and looked...

14th August 2010, 03:56 AM	#2
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,272	I agree that this could be Indian or Nepalese. Both have major Hindu populations, and in Hinduism the crescent moon usually represents Siva and the fish I think an avatar of Visnu - a symbol of good luck in any case.

15th August 2010, 02:25 AM	#3
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Hate to mention "Fagan & Co", but over the years, I've seen three tortoise shell shields. One was like this one, with the cresent bosses and listed as E Indian. Another was very primitive, with just an outer lining of strip metal and listed as Sudanese (shell was tan/sand-colored). A final shield was odd-shaped and made from flattened shell and listed as "Persian". For lack of a better word, it spanned out from the middle into a butterfly shape. Very nive piece you have!

16th August 2010, 10:46 PM	#4
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,141	Correction on last. The final shield of turtle shell was listed as Madhist. I just went back and looked...