A woven fibre cuirass body armor corselet (vest) from the high Star Mountains area of Papua New Guinea. Intricately woven from natural plant fibres. An extremely rare and very old example that dates to the early 1940s. Tightly woven, but light weight, these garments served as protection during battle with neighboring tribes. Body armour such as this allowed the warrior wearer to hold & fire his bow knowing his body was protected in the absence of a bow shield. Condition is very good. Rarely seen outside museums.
US $550
http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/28-3/Katz.pdf
Frank Tiesler (1984) examined the distribution of rattan cuirasses by reference to museum specimens.
