LORRKON, 2007

Important Aboriginal Works of Art
Melbourne
25 May 2016
62

IVAN NAMIRRKKI

born 1959
LORRKON, 2007

ochre pigment and PVC fixative on stringybark (Eucalyptus Tetrodonta) hollow log

132.0 x 240.0 cm

Estimate: 
$3,000 – 4,000
Sold for $4,636 (inc. BP) in Auction 43 - 25 May 2016, Melbourne
Provenance

Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (cat. 2362-07)
Raft Artspace, Darwin

Literature

Private collection, Sydney

Catalogue text

This work is accompanied by a certificate from Maningrida Arts & Culture which states: ‘The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin ceremony was the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of the Arnhem Land. This ceremony involves the placing of the deceased’s bones into a hollow log which was decorated with painted clan designs and ceremonially placed into the ground where it remained until it slowly decayed over many years. The log is made from a termite hollowed stringybark tree (Eucalyptus tetradonta) and is decorated with totemic emblems.’