Ellen, Roy (2019) Understanding geometrical features of Nuaulu shield design. Journal of Material Culture, 24 (2). pp. 210-231. ISSN 1359-1835. E-ISSN 1460-3586. (doi:10.1177/1359183518803393) (KAR id:69513)
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183518803393 |
Abstract
This article seeks to elucidate the form and function of decorative designs on Nuaulu parrying shields from Seram, Indonesia. It builds on earlier work focusing on the shield as a sacred anthropomorphized entity with its own life-cycle, the reproduction of which mirrors the reproduction of sacred houses. It has previously been suggested that diversity in design elements is deliberately cultivated as part of a general aesthetic, connecting individuality, personhood and effervescence as features of living entities. Here the author examines the materiality of shields, documenting variation in design – especially patterns of ceramic and shell discs – and asks what significance should be attached to these. He concludes that the attribution of specific meanings to individual elements is of limited application, while the impact of the shields lies in variation itself, the perceptual affects shields have on viewers, and in abstract geometric characteristics that make them fit for ritual purpose.
Item Type: | Article |
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DOI/Identification number: | 10.1177/1359183518803393 |
Uncontrolled keywords: | shields, geometric patterns, formal variability, Indonesia, Moluccas |
Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology |
Divisions: | Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation |
Depositing User: | Roy Ellen |
Date Deposited: | 11 Oct 2018 06:56 UTC |
Last Modified: | 04 Mar 2024 19:32 UTC |
Resource URI: | https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/69513 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes) |
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