A Fine Old Tiwi Islands Club Melville Island Northern Territory

A Fine Old Tiwi Islands Club Melville Island Northern Territory

This old Tiwi club is from Melville Island an island in the eastern Timor Sea off the north coast of the Northern Territory of Australia. Carved from a single piece of hardwood, the handle with a fishtail carving, and the finial is rounded, the entire club is finely ochre painted in traditional Tiwi designs being cross-hatching, solid bands, and some circles.  Clubs were used for dancing in traditional Pukamani Ceremonies.  Tiwi artists’ unique style of painting is highly regarded by other artists and collectors around the world.

Provenance: This old club is from the early 20th Century and came from the collection of a person who lived in Darwin in the 1940’s .

The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

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