Between 1967 and 1968, Mimino, a master Abau carver working in Wauru, Papua New Guinea, carved this shield out of a massive tree root, painted it with natural pigments, and sold it to the Australian student Barry Craig. Although shields like these have historically been used in warfare along the August and Green Rivers in the extreme northwestern edge of Papua New Guinea, its large size—about 1.5 feet taller than most Abau shields—and lack of wear indicate that it was made specifically for sale. Nevertheless, it was created in the same way that Abau artists had been creating shields for several hundred years.