Aboriginal Turtle painting
Early oenpelli bark painting depicting a Turtle
Object type: Bark painting
Locality: Western Arnhem Land Northern Territory Australia
Artist: Attributed to Yirawala
Circa: 1950
Length: 55 cm
Description:
This is an old rock art like depiction of a long neck turtle. The bark is old and pigment loss has now been stabilized. I believe this bark is by Yirawala for two reasons. Firstly Y’wala and Yirawala are phonetically almost identical and no other artist with names starting with a Y sound exists for this period. Secondly, the long neck turtle was an animal of totemic importance to Yirawala and he had the right to paint it. Other similar shaped Yirawala turtle exist but they were painted later after he had changed his style due to Yirrkala influences
Price: SOLD
Long neck Turtle by Yirawala