ARTIST UNKNOWN

Collected by Professor Andrew A. Abbie at Kalumburu circa 1963, thence by descent
Private collection, acquired from the above

The figure is in good condition overall with no visible repairs or restoration, There is minor areas of pigment scuffing, rubbing and loss.
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This small, and rare sculpture was probably collected in 1963 by the late Professor Andrew A. Abbie while undertaking fieldwork at Kalumburu in the northern Kimberley.

While the use of pearl shell inlay is reminiscent of the decoration found on the Nimandara figure collected by Fr E.A. Worms, on the Dampierland Peninsula in 1935 (see Akerman with Stanton 1994: p.54, pl.50), the Abbie sculpture is carved in the round from a section of the trunk of a softwood tree, probably from the Helicopter tree (Gyrocarpus americanus). The style of carving, if not the inlay is similar to that of other sculptures from the north and central Kimberley - particularly the figure collected by the anthropologist Peter Lucich from Kalumburu in 1963.

The Lucich sculpture, made at Kalumburu, was used in performances of a public dance cycle called the Muranda or 'Little Boy' Dances. The figure (known as Murandani, Barmala or Nimalad at various stages of the presentation) represents the composer, the son of a man who had been speared and who has also had attempts made on his own life. The song cycle is said to have come from the Port Keats/ Daly River area of the Northern Territory and was in a language unknown to the people at Kalumburu (Berndt and Phillips 1973: p.168, pl.118-9).

There are differences in ornamentation between the Abbie sculpture and the Lucich figure - the latter is elaborately dressed and ornamented, with attached hair and beard but without any pearl shell inlay. However, both are carved in a simple manner with hollow, circular eyes, branded into the face with a burning stick or even possibly 'drilled in' using a wooden drill as when making fire. The nose and mouth in both figures are simply raised or depressed rectangular features. The male pudenda of the Abbie figure has been created by removing wood, the Lucich figure is more refined in its finish and more ornate in the painted decoration, both are basically quite simple and static figures with short pendant arms, quite different from the animated limbs of the Worm's figure from the Dampierland Peninsula.

It is likely - particularly when considering the manner, in which features of the sculptures - such as the unusual eyes - were created, that the same person made them both.

Both Abbie and Lucich were at Kalumburu in 1963 at the same time, and according to Lucich1, Abbie did collect a Murandani sculpture that was in use at the time. The collection of this sculpture led to the creation of a second figure, the one subsequently collected by Lucich and now in the Berndt Museum of Anthropology. Lucich noted that the Abbie figure was much cruder than the example he collected. Lucich collected his figure from Wilson Barambel Karadada, but whether Wilson made it is not definite.

The discovery of the Abbie sculpture is an important addition to the small suite of anthropomorphic sculptures, known to be made prior to the 1980s, from the Kimberley and reveals again how much is yet to be learnt of the art practice of the region.

Professor Abbie held for many years the Elder Chair of Anatomy and Histology at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. In the 1950s and 1960s Professor Abbie led research expeditions to Yuendumu, Maningrida, Beswick, Haast's Bluff and Yalata as well as to Kalumburu. He published many papers on anatomy, neurology and anthropology, as well as authoring the book The Original Australians published in 1969.

1. I am indebted to Peter Lucich for this information

References
Abbie, A.A. 1969. The Original Australians. A.H. and A.W. Reed. Wellington, Auckland and Sydney
Akerman, K. with Stanton, J. 1994. Riji and Jakuli: Kimberley Pearl Shell in Aboriginal Australia. Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences, Monograph Series No 4: i-xii, 1-73
Berndt, R.M. and Phillips, E.S. (eds). 1973. The Australian Aboriginal Heritage: An Introduction through the Arts. Ure Smith, Sydney

Sotheby's wishes to thank Kim Akerman for this catalogue entry