Help with african shields

[Clearco]

Hi!
I´m trying to make some generic east african villagers with leather shields but I don´t know what decoration pattern to use. I don´t want to let the shields unpainted but I failed to find any real examples: the only thing I can find in the net when I´m looking for african shield patterns are Zulus and/or Masai shields 

Does someone of you have any idea, or pics or something that can help me?
Thanks!

[inkydave]

2 sites from the same person spring to mind. www.spearcollector.com Lots of great pics of African arms, shields and armour.
Also www.ezakwantu.com Glorious site about african art and crafts. Mostly southern and eastern Africa. Both should provide some great quality images for inspiration.

[Plynkes]

What kind of shield are they? I mean what shape and such? That would help us narrow things down a bit and come up with some ideas for you.

[Clearco]

Thanks Inkydave! Great sites! Sadly I haven´t found examples of painted shields that are not masai-like  

What kind of shield are they? I mean what shape and such? That would help us narrow things down a bit and come up with some ideas for you.

Sorry I forgot to be more specific. I´m making the shield myself out of cardboard.They are oval shaped and not very wide. I want them to look like made of hide.
A bit like these, but slightly narrower:
http://wargamesfoundry.com/historical_ranges/single_packs/darkest_africa/africa/african_tribal_warriors_with_sculpted_hair_da074/?sector_id=12

I wanted to find a pattern to paint it different from the one in the Foundry´s foto  

[Plynkes]

Got a handful of examples:

Lake Victoria pirates:



Shields of undecorated hide (without the hair, unlike the Zulu type). An off-white or light brown colour, most likely. Others in the area painted designs of white, red and black on similar shields, but unfortunately no illustration of the actual pattern.




Sagara:



Either left plain like the ones above, or painted with these black and red stripes. Alternatively divided in half vertically down the middle with one half painted red and the other black.




Gogo:





Gogo shield designs are reported as being in red, yellow, black and white. Later, like many in the area, they adopted the Masai-type shield and patterns.

[Clearco]

Thanks a lot! Something like that was what I was looking for  

By the way, cool fotos of the Gogo. I wanted to try making some of them taking Perry´s plastic mahdist´s body and maybe Warlord Zulus´heads, but in these pictures they don´t look like I had imagine  
I had only seen this picture, where they are bearing no shield at all...

...so I though I could use this kind of shield [below] (using the mahdist´s one with minor changes) because I thought it could be similar...And I was totally wrong   :

[inkydave]

Have 1 pic of some waGogo on my laptop. From 1909. They are going to a witchcraft trial. Masai-ish type shields.
 

[Plynkes]

They had adopted some Masai fashions by the 1880s. The pics I posted represent them in the 1860s, when they were still using their traditional type of shield, the sort Clearco was interested in. As well as a love of feather headdresses, they exhibited a bewildering array of daft haircuts, according to explorers' accounts, so the Foundry figures with sculpted hair would fit in a Gogo force quite well, if you gave them Masai shields and/or the sort we have been discussing.

[Kingscarbine]

I also need some help here. What were the most common shield types south of the Nyassa (lake area included)?

[Plynkes]

I also need some help here. What were the most common shield types south of the Nyassa (lake area included)?

Zulu type, I should say. There were loads of migrants from the Mfecane knocking about in this region. Check out these fine fellows encountered by Livingstone on the Zambesi:



He calls them "Landeen or Zulus" and said they exacted heavy yearly tribute from the local Portuguese (Landeen is explained as a term used by the Portuguese for any tribe of Zulu origin).

Kololo used Zulu-type shields, too.

[Clearco]

Cool WaGogo pics, thanks!
Do you think I can combine the fabric garments of the latter photos with the early traditional shields? I want to make an early force but I wanted to use Perry mahdists as a base for the body (only the bodies without trousers, of course, and using the arms without sleeves), so i couldn´t make the fur clothing:


The other option is to make the people of the second foto I posted: fabric clothing, kind-of-Beja-shield...Any clue which tribe it could be? I only know they live in Kondoa...

By the way, it looks like all people in east-africa were copying zulus/ngoni or masai by the end of XIX century  

[Kingscarbine]

Thanks Plynkes,

The Landeens (Landins in Portuguese) or Tsongas of southern Mozambique are also known as the "Northern Zulus" (Shangaan). The name comes from their language xilandi. The Mfecane influenced lots of tribes in the area and by the mid 19th c. it's probable most used the Zulu type shield. Were there any exceptions?

[Kingscarbine]

Hmmmm... They are begging for a conversion. I wonder what can be done with these and a set of Zulus.

[Clearco]

Hmmmm... They are begging for a conversion. I wonder what can be done with these and a set of Zulus.

Yes, I though the same as soon as I saw them the first time Now I´m preparing some Zulu heads 

[H.M.Stanley]

Hmmmm... They are begging for a conversion. I wonder what can be done with these and a set of Zulus.

The Ansar option come with shaved heads too. Now you've got me wondering ..