This auction has ended. View lot details

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

112 — Jimmy Angunguna (born circa 1935) Wangarra Spirits, 2002 height: 138.0cm (54 5/16in). and 190.0cm (74 13/16in).

AU$8,000 - AU$12,000

113 — Papunya Tula Artists, (Senior Women Collaboration) Untitled, 2002

AU$8,000 - AU$12,000

114 — Yalmakany Marawili (born 1957) Untitled, 2010

AU$3,000 - AU$5,000

115 — Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri (circa 1920-2008) Country Around Ayres Rock, 2006

AU$20,000 - AU$30,000

116 — Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999) Wool Clip, 1995

AU$60,000 - AU$90,000

117 — Peter Booth (born 1940) Painting (Strange Landscape with Sea), 1985

AU$50,000 - AU$60,000

118 — Roger Kemp (1908-1987) Sequence Fifteen, 1972

AU$25,000 - AU$35,000

119 — Leonard French (1928-2017) Before the Fire, 1974-78

AU$20,000 - AU$30,000

120 — Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) Beach, 1939

AU$5,000 - AU$8,000

121 — Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) Abstract, c.1939

AU$5,000 - AU$8,000

122 — Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) Landscape with River, 1942

AU$10,000 - AU$15,000

123 — Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) Nhill - Wimmera, 1943

AU$80,000 - AU$120,000

124 — Elioth Gruner (1882-1939) Landscape, Muswellbrook, 1920

AU$28,000 - AU$35,000

Previous Lot

Next Lot

The Late Rosalind Gillespie Collection, Sydney

Lot 8

Lena Yarinkura
(born 1948)
Yawkyawk (female water spirit) height: 127.0cm

Notable Collections: Australian and Aboriginal Art

27 August 2025, 14:00 AEST

Sydney

Sold for AU$221.40 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Australian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Australian Art

Tel: +61 2 8412 2222

australianart@bonhams.com

Alex Clark

Head of Sale, Senior Specialist

Tel: +61 3 7019 3870

Alex.Clark@bonhams.com

Merryn Schriever

Managing Director, Australia

Tel: +61 2 8220 0805

Merryn.Schriever@bonhams.com

Lena Yarinkura (born 1948)

Yawkyawk (female water spirit)
pandanus (pandanus spiralis) and natural dyes, filled with dried paperbark
height: 127.0cm

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Maningrida Arts and Culture, Maningrida, Northern Territory
Aboriginal and Pacific Art, Sydney
The Gillespie Collection, Sydney

RELATED WORKS
Other Yawkyawk figures by the artist are held in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

'In the late 1980s, Lena Yarinkura began producing near life-size representations of the major ancestral cycles told by the elders of western and central Arnhem Land. To illustrate the stories that belong to her husband and herself, Yarinkura makes paperbark and woven sculptures of a range of spirit figures, dogs, yawkyawk (mermaid-like spirits) and crocodiles. These installations, often decorated with ochre and feathers, have precedents in men's ceremonial objects that have rarely been seen after the 1960s – as well as the small spirit dolls held by women in Mularra ceremonies'

Additional information

This auction is now finished. If you are interested in consigning in future auctions, please contact the specialist department. If you have queries about lots purchased in this auction, please contact client services.
Buyers' Obligations
ALL BIDDERS MUST AGREE THAT THEY HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD BONHAMS' CONDITIONS OF SALE AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM, AND AGREE TO PAY THE BUYER'S PREMIUM AND ANY OTHER CHARGES MENTIONED IN THE NOTICE TO BIDDERS. THIS AFFECTS THE BIDDERS LEGAL RIGHTS.
If you have any questions about the Conditions of Sale, please contact your nearest client services team.
From 28 June 2025, the import into the EU of non-EU property of a certain age (and in some categories above a certain value) is subject to additional requirements. Under the relevant EU Regulation, it is the Buyer's sole responsibility to assess whether any Lot meets the criteria for import into the EU. The refusal of any required Import Licence or Importer Statement, or any delay in obtaining such Licence or Statement shall not give rise to the rescission or cancellation of any Sale, nor allow any delay in making full payment for the Lot.
Buyers' Premium and Charges
For all Sales categories excluding Motor Cars and Motorcycles:
Buyer's Premium Rates
23% on the Hammer Price
A 3rd party bidding platform fee of 4% of the Hammer Price for Buyers using the following bidding platforms will be added to the invoices of successful Buyers for auctions starting on or after 6th July 2024 – Invaluable; Live Auctioneers; The Saleroom; Lot-tissimo.
GST at the current rate of 10% will be added to the Buyer's Premium and charges.
Payment Notices
Payment is due by 4:30pm on Friday 29 August 2025.
Bank Transfer: this is the preferred method of payment. If transferring from an international account, please be sure to check with your bank and add any international transaction fees incurred to the total transfer amount. See your Bonhams invoice for bank account and BPAY details.
Online payment via Bonhams.com: please log on to your Bonhams account and proceed to Invoice Payment, limits apply.
Credit card payment via telephone: We can accept Visa, MasterCard and international EFTPOS cards. We do not accept AMEX. Payment limits also apply, please call to make payment over the phone +61 2 8412 2222.
Checks: Bank and personal checks should be made out to Bonhams 1793 Ltd
Note items cannot be collected until funds have cleared in full.
Cash payment: we accept cash payment in Australian Dollars up to a maximum of $8,000 for lots purchased by you in this sale.

To comply with legislative requirements, Bonhams will only accept payment from an account that matches the name on the invoice issued, i.e. the name on the original registration form.
Shipping Notices
For shipping quotes and further information, please contact the following couriers:
For Sydney-based local deliveries:
Paul Jarvis – Smart Shift
+61 412 734 349
smartshift@gmail.com
For Melbourne-based local deliveries:
Shaun Dunn – TransArt
+61 417 103 494
info@transartaustralia.com
For interstate and international shipments:
Pack & Send Pyrmont (Sydney)
+61 (0) 2 9660 5088
pyrmont@packsend.com.au
Pack & Send South Yarra (Melbourne)
+61 (0) 3 9521 5822
southyarra@packsend.com.au
International Art Services
+61 (0) 2 9667 1077
sydney@iasdas.com.au
- Australian Art