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Important Aboriginal Works of Art - 25 May 2016  |  Melbourne

Lot 150
Debra Wurrkidj
born 1961
LORRKON, 2008

ochre pigment and PVC fixative on stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetrodonta) hollow log

157.0 cm height



Estimate:
$1,500 – 2,500


Lot sold: $2,318 (inc. BP)


Lot Details

Description

Debra Wurrkidj
born 1961
LORRKON, 2008

ochre pigment and PVC fixative on stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetrodonta) hollow log

157.0 cm height

Provenance

Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (cat. 979-08)
Private collection, Sydney

Catalogue text

This work is accompanied by a certificate from Maningrida Arts & Culture which states: ‘The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin ceremony was the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of the Arnhem Land. This ceremony involves the placing of the deceased’s bones into a hollow log which was decorated with painted clan designs and ceremonially placed into the ground where it remained until it slowly decayed over many years. The log is made from a termite hollowed stringybark tree (Eucalyptus tetradonta) and is decorated with totemic emblems.’