ETHNOGRAPHIC ART AND ARTEFACTS
Friday, 14 - Monday, 24 March 2025
An Australian Aboriginal pearl shell lonka lonka / riji (pubic cover)
Current Bid $440 (12 bids, reserve met)
This lot is now closed 24 Mar 6:08 PM (NZST)
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Lot Details
with double suspension holes and small section of human hair cordage. Irregular teardrop shape with incised pattern highlighted with red ochre. Probably Bardi community, Dampier Peninsula, Kimberley, Western Australia. 208 x 170mm Provenance: Gillian & Watson McAlister Collection*; Cooee Art Gallery, Sydney. The Jorgen Lotz Collection. *In November 1973, aged 25, Gillian and Watson McAllister emigrated to Sydney from Glasgow, Scotland. After a year in Sydney they travelled to Darwin, just before cyclone Tracey and eventually to Perth where they lived for the next 15 years. In 1990, with Gillian’s long-service leave from the WA Education Dept, they resumed their journey round Australia and drove to Kalgoorlie and Adelaide, before heading north to Alice Springs and back to Darwin. With recognition of their skills and experience, they became the Heads of Girls Boarding and Boys Boarding Kormilda College in Darwin. There were close to 300 Aboriginal children boarding from all over the Northern Territory, many from remote communities in Arnhem Land and around the Central Desert. Gillian and Watson were therefore responsible for approximately 120 students in each of their houses. This started their interest in Indigenous Australian culture. Everywhere they went they were welcomed by community leaders and parents. In many of the communities they spent most of their modest salary at the art shop while other pieces in their collection were gifted as thanks for looking after their children.
