A collection of Six Ceremonial Dress Items, Far North Queensland and Central Australia
7Y
A collection of Six Ceremonial Dress Items, Far North Queensland and Central Australia
wood, human hair string, cotton, resin, bees' wax, natural earth pigments, pandanus and feathers including Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Major Mitchell Cockatoo, emu and Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo
Longest: 45.5cm (18 5/6in). and shortest: 24cm (9 7/16in).
Sold for AU$ 6,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • PROVENANCE:
    Three were collected in Central Australia during the 1950s and three at the Mitchell River, Far North Queensland
    Gumbayah Park Museum, Victoria
    Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney (3 items)
    Private collection
    Sotheby's, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 28 June 1999, part lot 214
    Private collection
    Sotheby's, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 24 July 2007, part lot 135
    Private collection

    Cf. Peter Sutton (ed.), Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia, Melbourne: Viking, 1988, pp.26-29, fig. p.27 for a 1933 photograph of two young women in mortuary dress for 'Wuungk' (a mourning-style ceremonial song) wearing a headdress similar to the small example adorned with Sulphur Crested Cockatoo feathers.

Auction Notices

  • The first line of the provenance for this lot should read: Two were collected in Central Australia and three in Far North Queensland instead of what is printed in the catalogue

Category: Fine Art / Aboriginal Art

Auction terms and conditions

Lot symbols

Y CITES

Contacts

Francesca Cavazzini Bonhams
Work
76 Paddington Street
Sydney, 2021
Australia
Work +61 2 8412 2225
FaxFax: +61 2 9475 4110
Specialist - Aboriginal Art