This item is a Beanwood shield from the Western Queensland desert region. Both sides are covered with incised longitudinal fluting and finished with red ochre(as you would find on throwsticks from this region). The handle is carved deeply into the reverse side and the edges adjacent to the handle curl inwardly. Much of the ochre coating is worn off, especially at the edges along the perimeter and on the front center where the shield would receive maximum impact damage and where the grooving has been flattened because of repeated impacting on that portion of the surface. The shield is in very good to excellent condition with no missing pieces, only minor surface age cracking and a few locations on the inside surface have compression dings. There is one very small hole that is difficult to see and it looks like one of the many natural knot holes that abound on this shield's surface. The natural knots enhance the beauty of this beanwood shield. This is an older example of this type of shield and it came from the famous McAlister collection, but it does not have any collection markings on the surface. Length = 64 cm ; Weight = 1242 gm