Shield

The diversity of iconography and patterning to be found in the designs painted onto objects made and used by Aboriginal people reinforces the strong cultural distinctions that exist across Aboriginal Australia. Pigments of ochres as well as clays are central to the spiritual life and the well being of Aboriginal people, and this distinctive shield is very unusual in its use of white clay as the major element in its simple yet striking design of a contrasting set of simple vertical and horizontal lines in red ochre. The shield is also remarkable in that it has an embedded spear near the centre, that has been sheared off on both sides close to the surface of the shield.
This rare shield is similar in style to those illustrated in plates that depict the ‘arms’ of ‘New Holland’, the name by which Australia was first known. It most likely comes from Sydney area in New South Wales, however little documentation accompanies it. The shield was purchased at auction from the estate of Arthur Todd Holroyd (1806-1887), who was barrister and a parliamentarian in the NSW Legislative Council (1851-1856) and Legislative Assembly (1856-1857) and Parramatta (1861-1864). Holroyd migrated to Australia in 1844 and so the date of the shield could be from the mid-1840s to the 1880s.