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The Late Bill Evans Collection, Sydney
Lot 69
Maker UnknownA Téngpái shield China diameter: 79.0cm
27 August 2025, 14:00 AEST
SydneySold for AU$4,920 inc. premium
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Alex Clark
Head of Sale, Senior Specialist
Merryn Schriever
Managing Director, Australia
Maker Unknown, A Téngpái shield
China
rattan and pigments
diameter: 79.0cm
rattan and pigments
diameter: 79.0cm
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
Zemanek-Münster Kunstauktionshaus, Germany, 28 June 2014, lot 33
Collection of the Late Bill Evans, Sydney
Tengpai (rattan shield) refers to a circular shield made of a large spiral or rattan that was bound with strips of rattan skin. Strongly associated with southern China, particularly Fujian province, such shields were valued for their light weight, flexibility, and resilience. Rattan shields were used from as early as the Song dynasty (960–1279), gaining prominence in Ming and Qing military systems where the subtropical climate and terrain favoured mobility over heavy armour. Typically paired with short sabres like the piandao (slicing sabre) or paidao (shield sabre), tengpai were employed in close combat or skirmishing formations.
This shield type appears in official Qing military texts such as the Huangchao Liqi Tushi, which notes its use by the imperial Rattan Shield Troops of the Tengpaiying. It cites an earlier tradition found in General Qi Jiguang's Jixiao Xinshu, describing rattan shields as "designed for defence, not for offense." According to an account from the steamer Nemesis, which was active in the first Anglo-Chinese war from 1840–1843, "There are generally a large number of round shields on board, made in a saucer-like fashion, and about two and a half to three feet in diameter. They are composed of ratans, or canes, strongly twisted or woven in together, and are so elastic, that it would be very difficult to cut through them with a sword."
藤牌，為中國傳統步兵所用之防禦武備，通常以整條藤條纏繞成螺旋狀並以藤皮綁扎固定，呈圓形微凸狀。此種盾牌多見於中國南方，尤其福建一帶，因當地氣候濕潤，不宜穿戴重甲，故以藤牌取而代之。自宋代以來即有藤牌記載，明清時期尤為盛行，常配合牌刀、㓲刀、蝴蝶刀等近戰武器使用，為步戰與游擊作戰所重。
《皇朝禮器圖式》卷十五載，「藤牌營藤牌：謹按戚繼光紀效新書園長二色其來尚矣主衛而不主刺國初木加以革重而不利步以藤為牌近出福建銅子雖不能隔而矢石槍刀皆可蔽，所以代甲胄之用。」至鴉片戰爭期間，英國蒸汽艦《復仇女神號》（Nemesis）記錄中國戰船配置，「船上常備大量圓形盾牌，形似淺碟，直徑約二尺半至三尺，由藤條或蔑條緊密編織而成，彈性極佳，甚至難以用刀劍斬斷。即使是從遠處斜射的子彈，亦常被彈開。」