BIRRIKUDA CEREMONY, 1961

Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art
Melbourne
6 October 2010
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141

Dhawadanygulili

(1900 - 1976)
BIRRIKUDA CEREMONY, 1961

natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark

95.5 x 42.0 cm (irregular)

Estimate: 
$3,600-4,800
Sold for $3,840 (inc. BP) in Auction 17 - 6 October 2010, Melbourne
Provenance

Painted in the Millingimbi region of central Arnhem Land
Private collection, Melbourne

Related works

Birrikuda Ceremony, c1963, collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
A Waterbird Dance, c1963, Sotheby's, Melbourne, 30 June 1997, lot 105

Catalogue text

In this painting we see the Birrikuda Ceremony performed as part of the Manarrnu mortuary rites. Clan members dance around a sacred well, shown at the centre of the painting, performing the totems of the dead man, one of which is the Water Bird dance. Beside the well is a hollow log, to one side of the painting is a message stick carried in the ceremony and at the other side a figure representing the spirit of the deceased.