Photo by Trish Barnard

Accession Number: E013433

Museum: Australian Museum

Date Acquired: 24/03/1905

Collector: Walter Edmund Roth

Date Collected:

Where from: Cairns

Description: L927 x W333mm

Evidence of borer holes. Red, black and white natural pigments with remnants of ochres on back of shield.

This shield design probably represents ‘Bama’, which is the language word for Aboriginal people from the rainforest region of north Queensland, see also the contemporary Yidinji shield designs by Napoleon Oui from Cairns, and and the traditional historical design QE1127 in the Queensland Museum, and Michael Boiyool Anning (1955-) shield ‘Bama – The people’ 2004.162 held in the Queensland Art Gallery collection (Barnard 2013). Walter Roth sold his collection of nearly 2000 North Queensland artefacts to the Australian Museum in 1905 for £450 (Barnard 2014).

See: ‘Walter Edmund Roth’ authored by Maureen Fuary

http://www.jcucollections.org/?page_id=71

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