AN ENGRAVED PEARL SHELL

Part 2: Important Aboriginal Art
Melbourne
28 November 2012
168

ARTIST UNKNOWN

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
AN ENGRAVED PEARL SHELL

finely incised and infilled with natural earth pigments

16.0 x 15.0 cm

Estimate: 
$1,500 - 2,500
Sold for $960 (inc. BP) in Auction 27 - 28 November 2012, Melbourne
Provenance

Private collection, Western Australia
Thence by descent
Private collection, Sydney

Of the animals shown, the lower right is a northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), an attractive animal which lives in the savannahs of Northern Australia. The quoll features in the 'Coming of Death' myth of the Worora people whose traditional lands are outside of Derby in Western Australia. The bird may be Stone Curlew.