Photo by Trish Barnard

Accession Number: E013437

Museum: Australian Museum

Date Acquired: 24/03/1905

Collector: Walter Edmund Roth

Date Collected: c.1898

Where from: Cairns

Description: L885 x W320mm

Red, black and white natural pigments with red ochre on back of shield. Spear point holes in surface.

This shield design probably represents ‘Bama’, which is the language word for Aboriginal people from the rainforest region of north Queensland, see contemporary Yidinji shield designs by Napoleon Oui from Cairns and Michael Boiyool Anning (1955-)s 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). 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

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