Object Assessment: Zande Shield from Congo (B.0029)

The object from the UCL Ethnographic Collections Material Culture Room labelled as B.0029 is an oval, 90 centimetres long shield executed by members of the Azande tribe from former Belgian Congo (Fig.1 & 2). The shield was donated to the MCR, most likely in the late 1950s, by Thorburn Alexander T. Leitch – a member of the British colonial government in Southern Sudan from 1948 until 1955 (Durham, 2020). Leitch travelled to Belgian Congo in 1955 what is evident from his diary (currently in Durham University Archives), and was in touch with Daryll Ford, the director of the UCL Anthropology department, throughout the 1950s. No other information about the exact provenance of the shield was found. 

Figure 1. Front of the B.0029 artefact.

Figure 2. The rear of the B.0029 artefact.

The shield was manufactured with a technique of wickerwork which is a method of weaving two- and three-dimensional objects with the use of pliable woody materials, such as rattan canes or lianas (Darvill, 2009). This technique was the most popular way of creating shields among the Azande (Fig. 3 & 4), before producing weapons was banned by the Belgian colonial government at the turn of the 20th century (Evans-Pritchard, 1957). 

Figure 3. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, A Zande man weaving a wicker shield (1927-1930). From the Pitt Rivers Photography Collections.

Figure 4. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, A Zande man demonstrating the use of the shield (1927-1930). From the Pitt Rivers Photography Collections.

The front of the artefact is divided into three sections created by three different weaving techniques and materials used for each part (Fig.5). The thicker woody slats were most likely made from canes of the rattan tree family such as the Raffia palm (Plaschke & Zirngibl, 1992). The thinner fibres, vertically binding the thicker slats together, are also of plant origin and are probably younger fibres of the same tree species (Florian et al. 1990). The rear of the shield comprises a wooden handle, a piece of a proteinaceous fibre hidden under the handle board, and a layer of thick canes forming horizontal rows (Fig.6). 

Figure 5. Demonstrative drawing of one of the sided parts of the shield with (a) 13 curved medium- sized slats, (b) 13 horizontally plated thin fibre twines woven, and (c) 48 vertical thick slats. 

Figure 6. The rear of the shield with a handle and a square piece of proteinaceous material visible underneath. 

Materials used for the production of the shield were determined based on comparison with similar Zande artefacts from collections such as the Pitt Rivers Museum or the British Museum. However, to confirm the types of wood and cane species used, a technical examination, such as Scanning Electron Microscopy, would have to be carried out. 

The condition of the shield is fragile but stable. The most significant deterioration process is visible on the rounded sides of the artefact where the thick woody slats were broken off and have untangled (Fig.7). Until the weaving is mended or stabilised, the item should not be unnecessarily handled. The condition of the artefact was also weakened by pest infestation which has left parts of the rim hollow and more prone to breakage (Fig.8).

Figure 7.  Loosening and breakage of fibres on the
curved sides. 

                                                                                 

Figure 8. Signs of pest damage on of the slats of the rim.

The artefact contains significant examples of traditional wicker craft and indigenous repairs - skills which have been forgotten after the production of weaponry was banned by the colonial government. Thus, the shield holds the biggest value for the Zande community as it is a palpable witness to the past of the Tribe.

References:

Durham University Library Special Collections, (2020). [Online]. [Accessed 04 March 2020]. <Available from: http://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=ark/32150_s13t945q83c.xml’>

Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1957), ‘The Zande Warfare’ in Anthropos Bd. 52, H. 1./2, pp. 239-262, [Accessed 26 February 2020]. <Available from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40454004>

Florian, M.E, Kronkright, P., Norton, R, (1990). The Conservation of Artefacts made from Plant Materials, The J. Paul Getty Trust, Princeton University Press, pp. 15-221

Pitt Rivers Database of Photography Collections (2020), [accessed: 15 March 2020]. <Available from: https://prm.web.ox.ac.uk/terms-use-pitt-rivers-museum-database-photography-collections>

Plaschke & Zirngibl, (1992), African Shields: Graphic Art of the Black Continent, Afrikanische Schilde. Panterra, pp. 7-116