Very rare set of seven intricately carved traditional ceremonial spear tip types from the early 1930s days of Port Keats mission contact.
The Murinpatha Muringar – Port Keats – Daly River language groups look south for ceremony as deep as Lajamanu (Hooker Creek) so these spear tips had the form, although more complex, of other types from the Victoria River District (VRD) Region of the Northern Territory & were widely traded along the traditional trade routes of the Daly, Kimberley & VRD.
Provenance: Arthur Beau Palmer Collection, NT and Qld. Collected in the field from original MSC 1935 Port Keats Mission head, Father Richard Docherty during Palmer's term as Head of Land Claims NT.
Length: 62cm (24.5inches).
US$15,000 for entire set of seven
| Title | Price | Details |
| A Collection of Eight Ceremonial Spearheads | A$40,450 | Carved hardwood, varying heights from 80 to 90 cm, Est: $10,000-15,000, Sotheby's Australia, Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 26/07/2004, Lot No. 8 Victoria River region, finely carved hardwood attached to bamboo shafts with sinew and natural resins, decorated with traces of natural pigments, old shiny encrusted patina. Provenance: Michael P. Durack, Bess I. M. Durack, Elizabeth Durack (1915-2,000). The Estate of Elizabeth Durack, Perth. Sotheby's Aboriginal Art, 24 June 2002, Lot 1. The Estate of Mrs M. E. Tancred. These exceptionally fine and rare ceremonial spears were presented to Michael Patrick Durack in the early 1900s on Auvergne Station-the furthest east of the Duracks' Kimberley properties. Auvergne extended into the Northern Territory and was bordered by the Victoria and Baines Rivers |
| Title | Price | Details |
| A Pair of Port Keats Spear Tips, c. 1950s | A$5,520 | Rare extremely textured, finely carved wood, length: 72 cm; 75 cm, Est: $2,500-3,500, Lawson~Menzies, Aboriginal Art, Sydney, 22/11/2006, Lot No. 81 |
