A Rainforest Shield, North East Queensland

A kidney-shaped shield of the type that is unique to the peoples of the rainforest region around Cairns, on the north east coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. Fashioned from the buttress root of the native fig tree, these shields were painted by two men simultaneously executing a symmetrical design from opposite ends of the shield. The designs are usually abstractions of images of totemic natural species and phenomena, including medicinal plants and leaves, scorpions, fish and turtles. The shields feature a centrally located boss for strength. The ochre pigments painted on this shield have retained much of their original intensity: the detail of the markings within the yellow forms is an unusual feature for such shields.

Cf. Howard Morphy and Elizabeth Edwards, eds, Australia in Oxford, Oxford, 1988, p. 66, fig. 84, for a similar kidney-shaped shield with an undulating surface to both front and back.