Detail View: The AMICA Library: Shield

The Solomon Islands comprise a double chain of seven large and numerous smaller islands lying to the east of New Guinea. One of the distinctive characteristics of Western and Central Solomon Islands art is the use of elaborate pearl-shell inlay. Probably manufactured on Guadalcanal and traded to neighboring islands, the oval war shields of the Western Solomons consist of tightly woven wicker over strips of cane. Though the majority were plain, a small number of shields were overmodeled with parinarium nut paste and decorated with elaborate pearl-shell inlay. Fewer than two dozen of these inlaid shields, probably dating from the mid-nineteenth century, are known to have survived. Given their fragile nature, it is unlikely such inlaid shields were used in combat. Instead, they may have served as ceremonial symbols of a warrior's rank and status.