Lot 415
Yirrkala, Northeast Arnhem Land, Australia. Ca. 1972. Untitled (Yingapungapu - Burial Ground) depicts one of the central ceremonial rituals of the Manggalili clan of northeast Arnhem Land, the mortuary rites performed for the deceased. At the center of the large rectangular eucalyptus bark painting, with natural yellow, red ochre, brown, and white pigments, is the oval burial ground sculpture, known as the yingapungapu, a form modeled in sand and serving as the focal point of the ceremony. According to Manggalili tradition, the first yingapungapu was created in Wangarr (Dreaming) times by the Nyapililngu sisters, ancestral figures whose brothers were fishing and hunting turtle when a storm overturned their canoe at sea. One brother's body was later washed ashore, and the sisters dug a shallow, dish-shaped grave, like those used for burying fish bones, in which they laid him to rest. The concentric circles within the burial ground signify freshwater wells where mourners are ritually cleansed at the conclusion of the ceremony. In the upper register of the painting, the Nyapililngu sisters are shown beside an anvil-shaped thundercloud of the monsoon season, accompanied by boomerangs that release lightning and thunder. A digging stick, emblematic of womanhood, appears to the right. To the left are the hunter's spear throwers and barbed spears, beneath which two crabs emerge from holes in the sand, symbolizing the cleansing of the deceased's bones. These crabs are, in turn, consumed by a pied heron shown alongside a barbed spear and an emu. In the opposing section of the composition, a turtle appears above an elliptical form that echoes the yingapungapu but here represents the brothers' canoe, positioned between its paddles. Light paint restoration on bottom crab body and 5" vertical line at edge next to figure. Size: 67-5/8" x 32-5/8" (171.8 cm x 82.9 cm)
Provenance: Ex. Mr. Ler de Vries, Ponte Vedra, Florida, acquired from the artist in the early 1970's. Exhibited: Sotheby's, May 2025.
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