Lorrkon Hollow Log, 2005

natural earth pigments on hollow log

208 x 20 cm

Est. $3,000 – $4,000

Hammer $2,800

Provenance: Maningrida Arts & Culture, Maningrida, NT, Cat No. 5851-05 Annandale Galleries, Annandale, NSW, Cat No. M542 Private Collection, NSW, acquired from the above Accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Maningrida Arts & Culture and Annandale Galleries
Exhibited: Lorrkons Mimih Spirits Yawkyawks, Annandale Galleries, Annandale, NSW, 7 November – 9 December 2006
Artwork story: The Lorrkon is the most solemn object in the ceremonial life of west central Arnhem Land. A hollow log coffin carved from a termite-hollowed stringybark trunk (eucalyptus tetradonta) and painted with the clan designs of the maker's moiety, it forms the centrepiece of the final mortuary rite in a sequence of ceremonies honouring the deceased. The bones of the dead are placed inside it in a ceremony that may take place years, even decades, after death. The ceremony unfolds over as long as two weeks. On the final night, in the secrecy of a restricted men's camp, the bones are retrieved, painted with red ochre and placed inside the log to the accompaniment of karlikarli, a pair of ceremonial boomerangs used as rhythm instruments. At first light the men emerge carrying the pole toward the women's camp, where a hole has been prepared. The Lorrkon is erected, women in specific kinship relationships to the deceased dance around it, and it is then covered and left to slowly return to the earth. Iyuna's Lorrkon is decorated across its full length with finely rendered totemic emblems in ochre, the geometric patterning building in density from base to crown, the surface precise and deeply considered. It was exhibited at Annandale Galleries in November 2006 alongside works by other Arnhem Land artists.

Catalogues235 of 257

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Sale 3 · Lot 87

James Iyuna

1959 – 2016

Region: Arnhem Land
Community: Mumeka
Language group: Kuninjku (Eastern Kunwinjku)

Lorrkon Hollow Log, 2005

natural earth pigments on hollow log

208 x 20 cm

Est. $3,000 – $4,000

Hammer $2,800

Provenance: Maningrida Arts & Culture, Maningrida, NT, Cat No. 5851-05 Annandale Galleries, Annandale, NSW, Cat No. M542 Private Collection, NSW, acquired from the above Accompanied by certificates of authenticity from Maningrida Arts & Culture and Annandale Galleries
Exhibited: Lorrkons Mimih Spirits Yawkyawks, Annandale Galleries, Annandale, NSW, 7 November – 9 December 2006
Artwork story: The Lorrkon is the most solemn object in the ceremonial life of west central Arnhem Land. A hollow log coffin carved from a termite-hollowed stringybark trunk (eucalyptus tetradonta) and painted with the clan designs of the maker's moiety, it forms the centrepiece of the final mortuary rite in a sequence of ceremonies honouring the deceased. The bones of the dead are placed inside it in a ceremony that may take place years, even decades, after death. The ceremony unfolds over as long as two weeks. On the final night, in the secrecy of a restricted men's camp, the bones are retrieved, painted with red ochre and placed inside the log to the accompaniment of karlikarli, a pair of ceremonial boomerangs used as rhythm instruments. At first light the men emerge carrying the pole toward the women's camp, where a hole has been prepared. The Lorrkon is erected, women in specific kinship relationships to the deceased dance around it, and it is then covered and left to slowly return to the earth. Iyuna's Lorrkon is decorated across its full length with finely rendered totemic emblems in ochre, the geometric patterning building in density from base to crown, the surface precise and deeply considered. It was exhibited at Annandale Galleries in November 2006 alongside works by other Arnhem Land artists.