Asmat Shield-Harry B. Wright Collection-New Guinea Art-Oceanic Art
I invite you to take a close look at this Asmat shield—it is a true old one from what they call Area B. I found this last month in rural Pennsylvania where it had been stored in the family barn for the last 60 years. It was collected by the Philadelphia dentist and adventurer Harry B. Wright between 1953 and 1957. He was an active member of the Explorers Club and wrote a book “Witness to Witchcraft” in 1957, the year before his death, about his encounters with shamans in Brazil, Africa and New Guinea. He has donated a number of artifacts from New Guinea and around the world in the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. The shield is stout and broad with the classic ray fish motif on the top. The design is composed of flying fox motifs in a particularly loose and free-flowing composition. The backside has an aged brown patina, the handle has broken off long ago and there are remains of a white label with Harry B. Wright’s name on it. Wright had given the shield to his friend and fellow Explorer Club member Bengt Olof Jansson in 1957. The shield dates to the early 20th century, is 52 ½” (133.3 cm) in height.