Tiger shield from China, Asia. Part of the Pitt Rivers Museum Founding Collection. Given to the Museum in 1884.
This large, round shield comes from China and is known as a po. Po were always were made of coiled basketry and painted with a tiger's face. Sometimes a brass boss would form the tiger's nose. These types of shield were used by sword-armed units of Chinese infantry and to complement the design, the troops often wore tiger-striped uniforms.