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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  Australian Indigenous & Oceanic Art
• Sale Date:
  21 Jul 2015 ~ 6.30pm
• Lot #:
  28
• Lot Description:
  Yirawala
  (1903-1976)
  Maralaitj (Mother of the North) (1966)
  natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
  103.5 x 53.5 cm
• Provenance:
  Sandra Le Brun Holmes, Northern Territory (1966); Private Collection, Victoria (1981)
• References:
  Bears old collection label verso that reads: "Maralaitj, came from Indonesia way and travelled over the country following her Dreaming path. She camped in the Boucat Bay area of East Arnhem Land. Here she mated with the great serpent. Maralaitj gave birth to the tribes in the area. The Dua moeity were born first, then the Jiritja. The painting shows Maralaitj giving birth to the tribes. She is assisted by her mother. The mother is singing a magical song for a successful birth and the prote
• Notes:
  Sandra LeBrun Holmes dedicated her entire life to the Australian aborigines, their conditions, their struggles and their civil rights; in a very racist time of Australia during the 1950s and 1980s. She was the only person to ever preserve, in Australia, the complete religious series of sacred art for two tribes; Gunwinggu and Tiwi people. The Yirawala Maraian series is housed in the Australian National Gallery Canberra and the Holmes-Tiwi Pukamani collection is in the Darwin Museum. Sandra preserved ceremonial art in the face of massive dealership activity that saw sacred art, objects and artefacts leave Australia forever, sold and a loss for future generations to learn from. Her work also included filming and recording ceremonial rituals during the time of her collecting that spanned thirty years. Sandra's recorded music of sacred aboriginal songs Devil Bird and Morning Star were chosen by NASA in for the Voyager 1 golden disc launched from Earth in 1976. Amanda Holmes-Tzafrir
• Estimate:
  A$35,000 - 55,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.