Worrumbi, Mendi Valley, Southern Highlands, PNG.

These shields, called worrumbi ( generally made from the wood of the worr tree ) and always oval in shape. This is a fine old shield, early contact period, with good patina. The design is reasonably typical Mendi abstract design, with the outer lines engraved into the surface of the shield. However the motifs appear to float, and the central zig-zag motif represents an ancestral figure.