Figure

Columnar wooden figure on pedestal. Painted patterns in red, yellow, white and black on body and face. Headdress, armlets and wristband decorated with cockatoo feathers. The wood, pigments, and feathers are all traditional materials and the face and body paint and ornaments represented are those of a participant in Tiwi funerary (pukumani) ceremonies. Sculptures like this have no place in Tiwi ceremonial life, but are an innovation that appeared in the second half of the 20th century. This figure was purchsed from a juried show at the Darwin Art Museum in 1980.