Pair of Somali Shields
Somali / Djibouti / Ethiopia / Kenya, Somalia
Giraffe Hide, leather, pigment
Early 20th century

The Somali represent 98 percent of the population in Somalia and are also disbursed throughout Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Somali warriors carried an iron sword called Belawa and a shield (seen here) called Gãschãn. Some of these shields were bleached white, such as the example here on the left.  

The sturdily constructed rim and handle allowed the bearer to parry blows and use the shield as an offensive weapon. When not in battle, the Somalis wore their Gãschãn shields their upper arm or hung across their shoulder. They also performed a war dance called bororoma-boromsi that simulated a fight between two fully armed warriors surrounded by a ring of chanting Somalis (Barbier, Boyer, Benitez-Johannot, Shields: Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, 2000). 

13 in :: 33 cm

InventoryID #13-1859

SOLD