1930s

Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art
Melbourne
4 April 2012
101

A FINE EARLY BOOMERANG

KIMBERLEY REGION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
1930s

carved wood with fine adze markings, the reverse decorated with traditional incised designs infilled with red ochre

66.0 cm length

Estimate: 
$700 - 900
Sold for $1,080 (inc. BP) in Auction 24 - 4 April 2012, Melbourne
Provenance

Collection of John Atherton, Queensland
Thence by descent
Private collection, Brisbane

Catalogue text

John Atherton (1837 – 1913) was an early pioneer in north Queensland who settled the Atherton Tableland near Mareeba and the area around Rockhampton in the 1870s. He assembled a collection of weapons and tools from these regions and across Australia and the pacific. The collection was passed to his son, Ernest Albert Atherton, who continued the legacy throughout Queensland and central Australia as Minister for Mines.