Aboriginal breastplate

In the 19th century, king plates were given by numerous communities in various Australian States to esteemed Aboriginal men and women, who were usually elders of their particular tribal or kinship group.

[1] There have been suggestions that the presentation of breastplates also had a great deal to do with whether or not the recipient was seen as useful or respected by the white Australian community of the area in question.

A typical format of inscribing the breastplates was to write the recipients name across the upper part of the plate's face, with the title below, sometimes 'King', 'Queen', or 'Chief'.

Some particularly distinguished Aboriginal characters are said to have ironically had the royal seal of Queen Victoria engraved somewhere on the plate to add an extra air of prestige.

[2] The practice of presenting respected Aboriginal leaders with breastplates declined in the post-Federation years,[3] becoming virtually unheard of by the end of the 1930s.