Photo by Trish Barnard

Accession Number: E004120

Museum: Australian Museum

Date Acquired: 09/05/1893

Collector: Archibald Meston (1851-1924)

Date Collected: 1893

Where from: Daintree River

Description: L840 x W270mm

Archibald Meston was living in Cairns after 1885 and managed a sugar cane plantation of Horace Brinsmead & Co. on the Barron River until 1889. During these years he had opportunity to travel throughout the local region and collect artefacts. In 1894 he was commissioned to contribute to plans for improving the lot of Queensland Aboriginals. His proposals were embodied in the Aboriginals Protection Act of 1897. He was made a justice of the peace and from January 1898 to December 1903 was Protector of Aboriginals for Southern Queensland which later included the central division. See – http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meston-archibald-4191

‘This is a wooden shield made by the Kuku Yalanji people of the Daintree Rainforest on Cape York in north-eastern Queensland. The kidney-shaped ‘rainforest shield’ is painted with a red, orange, white and black design using natural pigments and has a carved knob in the centre. A handle has been carved on the underside of the shield. The shield is made of softwood from a fig tree known as ‘magurra’ or ‘milbir’ in the local language. Collected in 1893, it measures 84 cm in length and 27 cm in width’. – See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/wooden-shield-from-cape-york-c1893#sthash.FS6rUw9Y.dpuf

See: ‘Archibald Meston’ authored by Russell McGregor

http://www.jcucollections.org/?page_id=61

Contact: Rebecca Fisher, Collections Officer, Australian Museum, 1 William Street, Sydney, NSW 2010 AUSTRALIA

Phone: (02) 9320 6089

International: +612 9320 6089

Email: Rebecca.fisher@austmus.gov.au