New Guinea Ramu River Shield, late 19th/early 20thc. Of oval form, the top with a thin triangular section carved in relief with spirit faces.  With holes on either side for the original cane binding (here lacking).   53.5 in l. x 20.5.in.w. This lot includes paperwork from Sotheby's, New York,  dated September 14th, 1981, signed by Sarah James, Department of Antiques and Ethnographic Art, stating that the shield was formerly property of the estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller. His collection of ethnographic art subsequently became the Museum of  Primitive Art. With museum accession number in red, L.P.60.140.   The Museum of Primitive Art  was founded in 1954 as the Museum of Indigenous Art, and was located in a townhouse adjacent to Rockefeller's childhood home, across from the Museum of Modern Art. "Over the course of two decades, the collection of the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas at the Museum of Primitive Art became the most important ever assembled. It was shaped by Rockefeller's quest for aesthetic excellence across a vast spectrum of traditions. On May 10, 1969, an exhibition of the Museum of Primitive Art's collection opened at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Titled Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art, it featured eight hundred works displayed in more than seventeen rooms and was described at the time as 'the most important exhibition of primitive art ever held.' "  (Met Museum). Condition: Some vertical shrinkage cracks, one larger and longer in length.  Â