LORRKON, 2006
JOHN MAWURNDJUL
natural earth pigments and PVC fixative on hollowed log
134.0 x 21.0 cm
Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory
Private collection, Queensland
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Maningrida Arts and Culture, Northern Territory (catalogue number 4331-06).
Museum Tinguely, Basel and C. Kaufmann (eds.), rarrk, John Mawurndjul: Journey through time in Northern Australia, Schwabe Verlag, Basel and Crawford House, Adelaide, 2005, p. 139 for an earlier Lorrkon by the artist
The certificate states in part, ‘The Lorrkon or bone coffin ceremony was the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of 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...’