Ingessana Shield
Ingessana
Ingessana Hills - Mahdist Sudan - Roseires District, Sennar, Anglo- Egyptian Sudan (Tabi Hills, Blue Nile State, Sudan)
Late 19th - Early 20th century (ca. 1880 - 1910)
Hide leather, vegetal fiber
Diameter: 35,2cm
Height: 54,9cm
Thickness: 9,5cm
Collection Date: 2025
Collection Number: 493

Ex. American Art Market (2025)

A fine shield from the Nilotic Ingessana People of the Tabi Hills, Southern Blue Nile Region of Sudan.

The shield is composed of a hardened single piece of leather hide with a rounded top and bottom, slightly flared inward on the sides. The center boss is triangular, protruding outwards with a thick central rib. The leather is folded around the edges to have a raised rim around the shield body. Completely embossed with a fine patterned decoration in a series of dotwork. On the reverse side, a hard handle covered in leather, possibly a bone underneath wrapped in leather from the hardness and shape. The handle is secured by thick vegetal fiber wrappings.

Two similar examples can be found in the British Museum. This fine example is in great condition for its age. A rare to find shield, highly decorated with elaborately incised dot pattterns.

Photograph 10 & 11: An Ingessana warrior holding a shield, club, and spears. Baw (Wisko), Blue Nile Tabbi Hills, November - December 1926. Photograph by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard, Pitt Rivers Museum

[1] https://southernsudan.prm.ox.ac.uk/details.php-a=1944.10.17&show=1944.10.17_a.jpg.html

[2] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1905-187

[3] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1905-188

[4] https://galleryrider.com/index.php/tribal-art/shields/leather-shield-ingessana-sudan

[5] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?42-l-1489-ingessana-110-x-67-cm

[6] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?42-l-1788-nuer-71-5-x-43-5-cm

[7] https://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/southernsudan/details/1998.344.30/index.html

[8] https://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/southernsudan/details/1998.344.27.2/index.html

[9] https://midlistwriter.blogspot.com/2017/04/military-history-photo-friday-african.html