Cameroon Beaded Shield CW07- L - 55cm Black & White Models Unadorned dolls made by blacksmiths

Unadorned dolls made by blacksmiths are played with by young children

which are round flat disk-like wooden masks that have abstract patterns and geometric motifs with horizontal lines that are painted in earthly colours

Use driftwood to create a perilous ridge for them to traverse

Each shield is carved from a single piece of Baobab wood — a sacred wood used for medicinal and ritual purposes for centuries — then covered in hundreds of hand-placed beads on manila string in a circular pattern around a dimensional cluster of natural cowrie shells at the centre

Cameroon Beaded Shield CW07- L - 55cm Black & White Models Unadorned dolls made by blacksmithsHistorically used as a defensive weapon in wartime and displayed as a decorative symbol of status and wealth by the Tikar people in Cameroon. Meticulously crafted, carved from one solid piece of Baobab wood, a sacred wood used for medicinal and ritual purposes for centuries, this large shield boasts hundreds of hand placed beads on manila string in a circular pattern around a dimensional cluster of natural cowrie shells in the centre. These decorative