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Shield, Va'yaulo or Kaikatake:ra, 19th century
Wood, pigment, rattan
68 x 28 x 9 cm (26 3/4 x 11 x 3 9/16 in.)
The Marcia and John Friede Collection, a Promised Gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco L05.1.100

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Artist Biography: (none) PROVENANCE: Jolika Collection of New Guinea Art PUBLICATIONS: 2005 - "The following information is adapted, with permission, from a paper prepared by Harry Beran for presentation at the VIII Pacific Arts Association International Symposium, Peabody Essex Museum, July 19-23, 2005. "In a letter dated 4th October 1916, A.C. Haddon told Bronislaw Malinowski, then doing fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands, that S.B. Fellows, the first missionary there, had published an interpretation of the motifs painted on Trobriand war shields and urged Malinowski 'to thrash out the motives (sic) of the designs and their significance.' He added 'this must surely be magico-religious to use the modern term.' [Haddon's letter is in the Malinowski Archive at the London School of Economics and Politics.] This Malinowski did but the result has remained unpublished in his field notes since it was recorded on 29th May and 16th June 1918." Beran received these notebook pages in 1996 from Patrick Glass. He translated them and obtained corrections and amplifications in 2005 from Pulaysi, chief of Omarakana village, and paramount chief of Kiriwina. Several master carvers and a custodian of war magic were also present. The last battle in which Trobriand shields are known to have been used occurred in 1899, and the production of the shields probably ceased around that time. Beran doubts the oft-repeated statement that only distinguished warriors had painted shields and the rest had plain ones. His basis is that there are too many painted ones and too few plain ones for that to be true, although this comparison may be distorted by the production of shields for sale. Malinowski's report states that most of the shield motifs have plant or animal references. Chief Pulayasi confirms that some but not all of them have important references to war magic, such as preparation for battle or a warrior's speed and litheness of movement. These interpretations differ markedly from those of the missionary Fellows. On the whole, Chief Pulayasi supports Malinowski's version. He also rejects the idea that there is an overall "magico-religious" meaning to the combination of these elements. Western scholars in more recent times have constructed multi-level meanings for the shield design, when taken as a whole. Beran clearly believes these are the speculative imaginings of outsiders. Reviewing them all together, I agree with his view. Moreover, all of them are rejected by the Trobrianders themselves. That is not to say that an overall meaning, or several of them, does or did not exist. The claim that it is lost in history, however, is hard to accept given the Trobianders' intense interest in their traditional images and beliefs. Hopefully, further research by Beran and others, which will be published in a subsequent volume in the Jolika series devoted to Massim culture, will reveal more of the story." (Catalog #401, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede, 2005, Volume 2, p. 150.)

Related Keywords
Kaikatakera or Va'yaulo Shield Francisco San Museums Arts Fine Gift Promised Friede John Marcia Art Jolika speakers language Kilivila Massim Northern Oceania Province Bay Milne Guinea New Armor Arms rattan pigment Wood 0709200406050429 A361015 L05.1.100 AOA