Elema shields vary in size. Some are small, not large enough to protect the entire torso. They were not carried by a handle on the back, rather, they were suspended over the shoulder by a cane or fiber loop. This enabled more freedom of movement when using a bow and arrow. In 1912 A.B.Lewis posed a man demonstrating this method in the photograph seen here.

Provenance:
Kevin Conru, Brussels, 2003
Stella Pitt Rivers, until 1960-70s
Pitt Rivers Museum, Farnham, Dorset
Lt. General Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers
W.D.Webster

Publishing History:
Robert Welsch, Virginia-Lee Webb, Sebastian Haraha. Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art and Society in the Papuan Gulf. New Hampshire, Hood Museum of Art, 2006: 28 (Fig.46).

Exhibition History:
Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art and Society in the Papuan Gulf. Hood Museum of Art, New Hampshire, April 1 - September 17, 2006 and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York October 24, 2006 - December 2, 2007.