Turkana / Pokot / Acholi Shield
Turkana / Pokot / Acholi Shield
Turkana / Pokot / Acholi
Turkanaland - Turkana District, British East Africa - Acholiland (Lake Turkana Region - Northwestern Kenya, Northeastern Uganda, Southeast South Sudan, Southern Ethiopia)
Mid- 20th century (ca. 1930 - 1970)
Steel, wood, hide
Diameter: 27,3cm
Height: 93,7cm
Thickness: 9,5cm
Collection Date: 2025
Collection Number: 502
Ex. Auctions Imperial: Chatsworth, California (2025)
A shield from the Lake Turkana Region, including Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, with shared use by the numerous Nilotic agro- pastorial tribes in the region.
The shield is rectangular form with cusped corners, wrought entirely of steel with a raised central ridge. The grip system is composed of a central wooden frame, bound by plaited hide strips, with a central knuckle pad of hide.
Traditionally these type of shields were composed of a strong hide leather, but in later years they were constructed from all steel as it was stated to be "safer, lighter, and far better in combat than hide shields". The steel may have been reused from scrap oil drums as a possible origin.
Photograph 10: The Nigrizia,1932, (Comboni Missionary Magazine). Picturing dancers preparing for the Otole war dance before battle.
Photograph 11: Acholi warriors, Acholiland, Uganda,January 1879. Photograph by Richard Buchta.
[2] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1954-23-39
[3] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1901-1113-86?selectedImageId=1612931024
[4] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1936-1125-1
[5] https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/24385
[6] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?69-m-0352-turkana-97x27-5cm
[7] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?turkana-86-x-32-cm
[10] https://www.bonhams.com/auction/24946/lot/80/turkana-shield-kenya/
[11] http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=16941&highlight=turkana+shield