Phantom-inspired shield from Papua New Guinea

Phantom shield, Wahgi valley, Highlands, Papua New Guinea. Shields with non-traditional motifs started to be painted and used in warfare in the 1980s in the New Guinea Highlands. The Phantom comic, available in the highland town of Mt Hagen from the early 1970s, inspired the use of the Phantom image of shields. This was done only in a limited area at the eastern end of the Wahgi valley. The Phantom fitted the highland concepts of moral superiority and fearlessness in warfare that were a crucial part of their society. This comic book hero was not a superhero, but one who had a strong ancestral history, and, through this, became 'the man who cannot die'. Carved and engraved wood, fibre and pigments. Provenance: Ex Collection Geoff Carey, Oceanic Art Society, Sydney, Lake Collection, Sydney. Approx. length 156 x 64 cm