The Collection of the Late Ian Dunlop, Canberra
Lot 201
Thancoupie/Thanakupi(1937-2011)Moocheth the Ibis, Toogun the Fly Fish, Owellingan the Possum, Bêche-de-mer, c.1988 height: 15.0cm (5 7/8in).
3 December 2025, 14:00 AEDT
SydneyAU$2,500 - AU$3,500
Ask about this lot
Alex Clark
Head of Sale, Senior Specialist
Merryn Schriever
Managing Director, Australia
Thancoupie/Thanakupi (1937-2011)
Moocheth the Ibis, Toogun the Fly Fish, Owellingan the Possum, Bêche-de-mer, c.1988
stoneware bowl with slip oxide decoration on incised design
height: 15.0cm (5 7/8in).
stoneware bowl with slip oxide decoration on incised design
height: 15.0cm (5 7/8in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE
Trinity Beach, Cairns
The Collection of the Late Ian Dunlop, Canberra
Accompanied by handwritten notes and diagram reputedly in the hand of Margaret Tuckson which reads:
'Story about the creatures of the world: Beche-de-mer sea slug, Owellingan the
Possum, Toogun the Fly Fish, Moocheth the Ibis, Food! Local clay around Cairns.
Thancoupie'
BIOGRAPHY
Ian Dunlop (1927-2021) was a pioneering ethnographic filmmaker. Born in England of Scottish and Australian parents, he emigrated to Australia after serving in the British army. His BA (University of Sydney) included anthropology. He also developed lifelong passions for: the bush, art, film, and (most life-changing) his soon-to-be wife, Rosemary. After two years with ABC radio, in 1956 Ian obtained a cherished job at the Film Division (later the Commonwealth Film Unit/Film Australia). He learned his film-craft while chafing at the constraints of the commissioned scripted doco, longing to make films that allowed immersion in people's lives.
At this period Australia administered the territories of Papua and – as a trust territory – New Guinea, involving reporting obligations to the UN. Ian worked on several such films, including in 1962 a record of an Administration patrol up the remote May River.
In 1957, whilst filming the establishment of the Giles Weather Station in WA (near the NT), Ian met Indigenous Australians. Each day he climbed the rugged Rawlinson Range. Seeing in the distance scattered smoke wisps, he envisaged a film on a day in the life of a nomadic family. Thus began an eight-year battle to convince management that such a film was desirable. By the time Ian returned in 1965 and 1967, only a handful of nomadic families remained in the desert. The resulting People of the Australian Western Desert series gained international attention with rave reviews in Paris and awards in Prades, Edinburgh, Padua, Melbourne, New York and Chicago.
Ian's 22-film Yirrkala Film Project, a collaboration with the Yolngu of northeast Arnhem Land, recorded the impact of a mine and Yolngu responses over 1970-1982. Ian was also invited by the Baruya of the Eastern Highlands of PNG to film initiation ceremonies, resulting in two major series: Towards Baruya Manhood and Baruya Muka Archival. His films, which won many awards, have great integrity, driven by partnerships with the people filmed, and Ian's desire to understand. The films portray other lives with respect, immersing viewers in the experience. They are records for future generations.
Ian developed strong relationships with many of these people. They with their families came to stay with Ian's family, to translate and document the films. Ian's collection of Indigenous art reflects these friendships, and the way the artists used their paintings as part of a living culture expressing the ancestral past still immanent in the landscape today.
Sarah Dunlop
2025