Tiwi people (Melville and Bathurst Island, Australia)
The only monumental sculpture in Aboriginal art, these memorial poles are commissioned by the bereaved for erection at the time of secondary funeral rites. Scorched to give the surface a dark hue, they are then painted and erected in the burying ground at the time of the ceremony after which they are left to the elements.
Ex Norman Hurst Gallery, Boston
Ex Helen S Slosberg Collection of Oceanic Art, Rose Art Museum
Brandeis University, acquired in 1963
10′ 6″ high (320 cm)
7′ 9″ high (236cm)
$40,000
