A Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Woomera Spear Thrower West Australia 19th C

 A Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Woomera Spear Thrower from Western Australia Dating from the Late 19^th to Early 20th Century.

The Woomera or Spear Thrower is a sophisticated technology that elongates the arm making the spear travel much further in distance & with great accuracy when used for hunting. Correcting for the game animal’s lateral dodging is accomplished by tilting the wing-shape woomera during the throw for last-second corrections. The kinetic energy of a spear launched from a woomera has been calculated as four times that of an arrow launched from a compound bow.  See the photo above of Woomera in use

This beautiful old Woomera or Spear Thrower is finely carved from a single piece of hardwood, it is finely incised on the front surface with linear fluting and the Zig Zag design that represents an abstract snake highlighted with white ochre painting.  At the back of the Woomera, you can see the great skill of the artist and their use of traditional bone or stone tools giving it a distinct chiseled surface. The slender handle butt would have once had a small ball of spinifex resin.

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea & First Australians & Oceanic Art    On a fine custom stand for easy display showing both sides well

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY  showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

I have artwork for Museums and art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and Oceanic Art.  Sydney is very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbors.

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