Marambur circa 1918 - deceased

Estimate

4,000 - 6,000 GBP

Sold

bidding is closed

Description

Marambur
Fish Totem
Bears artist's name (sic. "Miranbool"), area (Maningrida), title and a description of the story together with a certificate of authenticity from Dorothy Bennett on labels on the reverse
Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
100cm by 48cm

Provenance

Painted in Maningrida, West Arnhem Land circa 1963

Collected by Dorothy Bennett at Maningrida, Western Central Arnhem Land between 1962 and 1964

Tom and Adi Barnett Collection, USA

The Barnett Collection at Columbia University, New York

Sotheby’s, Important Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 30 June, 1997, lot 106 (AU612)

Fiona Brockhoff, Melbourne

Catalogue Note

Cf., Berndt, R. M. and Berndt, C. H. with Stanton, J., 1982, Aboriginal Australian Art, a Visual Perspective, Methuen Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney, p.91, pl.85, p.94, pl.88A, for two ceremonial carvings by the artist, collected by anthropologists Ron and Catherine Berndt on Elcho Island in 1961 and 1964.

The label on the reverse reads: "When a man reaches marriagable age, usually at 18 or 19, he is initiated into certain rites, at which are shown to him the totems handed down from both parental sides. Marambur's painting shows down the centre of the painting the shape of the fish totem shown to him at his initiation, and a series of these same totems are painted horizontally also. Totems are jealously guarded from other members of the tribe and are occasionally shown as a special privilege."