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The Late Bill Evans Collection, Sydney
Lot 60
Maker UnknownA shield, Beha, Oro Province, Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea 19th century height: 83.5cm
27 August 2025, 14:00 AEST
SydneySold for AU$2,460 inc. premium
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Alex Clark
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Merryn Schriever
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Maker Unknown, A shield, Beha, Oro Province, Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea
19th century
wood and rattan
height: 83.5cm
wood and rattan
height: 83.5cm
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
Christie's, London, 30 November 1994, lot 31
Collection of John and Marcia Friede, United States of America
Patrick and Ondine Mestdagh, Belgium
Collection of the Late Bill Evans, Sydney
LITERATURE
John and Marcia Friede, New Guinea Art: Masterpieces of the Jolika
Collection from Marcia and John Friede, Fine Arts Museums of San
Francisco and 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2005, p. 427, fig. 397 (illus.)
The Late Dr Harry Beran, in his chapter on the Oro Province for the publication Shields of Melanesia, observed that 'the name of these shields in Binandere is beha or pere'. Beran includes a detailed and lyrical description of their construction whereby a thin sheet of wood is covered with split rattan. Decorative elements, as shown in the current example include, 'pleasing effects are created on some shields by the addition of two or three horizontal rattan zigzags across the front, or elegantly curved rattan bands, or a second vertical band of plaited rattan.'
Beran was careful to note that the shields were carried tip down and not the reverse. He adds, 'That the shields were often pictured upside down illustrates the danger of seeing Oceanic objects through Western eyes.'
Dr Harry Bevan, Shields of Melanesia, Crawford House in association with Oceanic Art Society Sydney, Adelaide, 2005, p. 209