Cf. Tom Phillips (ed.), Africa The Art of a Continent, London, 1995, pp.142-143, figs.2.24a and 2.24b where the author, Stanley Maina, describes how such shields were used in initiation dances called muumburo, worn on the arm which was flexed during the dance rather than being manipulated in the hand. The author states: "All the wood shields were decorated with non-figurative motifs on the outer surface and usually on the inside as well. These designs were by no means arbitrary. The patterning had to be agreed in advance of successive initiations which in some areas may have been annual, and was then applied to the new shields used on that particular occasion. Such patterning thus varied both by territorial unit and by initiation period. Shields used at the same initiation were not necessarily identical. Boys usually passed their dance shields on to their younger relatives. Many scraped off the old decorations, replacing it with the pattern agreed as the 'insignia' of their particular initiation group."