Wunda Shield with Zig Zag Designs

A fine old Wunda shield, West Australia, late 19th - early 20th…
click the photo to enlarge
A fine old Wunda shield, West Australia, late 19th - early 20th century. Finely incised zig zag designs with traces of the original white, red ochre decorations & old patination. Provenance: Lord Alistair McAlpine (1942-2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was a lifetime collector in many fields including Aboriginal Art. He was an early collector of the American painter mark Rothko and could easily see the sophisticated aesthetics of Aboriginal Art and Artifacts / Todd Barlin collection. 80 cm x 16.5 cm

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Incised - A record of a name, date or inscription, or a decoration scratched into a surface, usually of a glass or ceramic item with a blunt instrument to make a coarse indentation. Compare with engraving where the surface is cut with a sharp instrument such as a metal needle or rotating tool to achieve a fine indentation.
  • Patination / Patina - In broad terms, patination refers to the exterior surface appearance of the timber, the effect of fading caused by exposure to sunlight and air over the course of a century or more, changing the piece to a soft, mellow colour.

    As patina is very difficult to replicate, it is one of the most important guides to determining the age of furniture.

    Patina is also the term applied to the bloom or film found on old bronzes due to oxidisation.

This item has been included into following indexes:

Visually similar items

A child's shield, with faded ochre design to face and verso, Western Australia, height 36 cm

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

An fine early wunda shield, Western Australia (circa 1900), natural earth pigments on carved hardwood, 77.4 cm high. Provenance: Private Collection, Victoria

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A Papuan Gulf Gope board, Papua New Guinea, with incised design decorated with natural ochres

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A war shield, with ochre decoration to face, Mendi area, highlands PNG. Provenance: The Dr George Soutter and Dr John Yu collection, height 120 cm

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.