Tommy McRae Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Tommy McRae Art Value Price Guide

Mar. 26, 2024
TOMMY MCRAE, WAR DANCE, 1900
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
TOMMY MCRAE (c.1836 - 1901) WAR DANCE, 1900 pen and ink on paper 24.5 x 31.0 cm bears inscription and date verso: R Kilborn / 1900 PROVENANCE George Kilborn, Wahgunyah, Victoria Thence by descent Private collection, Melbourne Joel Fine Art, Melbourne, 3 June 2008, lot 3 Private collection, Sydney RELATED WORK Lachlan War Dance, c.1890, pen and ink on paper, 21.5.0 x 28.0 cm, in the collection of the Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, illus. in Sayers, A., Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994, p. 32, pl. M 14 ESSAY Tommy McRae, also known as Yackaduna, Warra-euea, Tommy Barnes and Tommy McCrae was born in the 1830s just as the colonisation of the Upper Murray region was commencing. As a young man, McRae experienced the cultural transition from traditional life to one where interactions with settlers became widespread and from the 1850s with the influx of miners following the discovery of gold in the North-east of Victoria, traditional life was overwhelmed by settler culture. McRae worked for squatters along the Murray River in both New South Wales and Victoria. In his later years he settled at Lake Moodermere south of Wahgunyah on the Victoria side of the Murray River, and it was in these later years that McRae produced his insightful images of both settler life and pre-colonial times. Recording daily events in his community and the emerging towns, his depictions of traditional hunting, fishing, and ceremonial scenes as well as portrayals of settler life and historical events were, perhaps surprisingly, widely admired and supported by the local community. McRae's visual record was a rarity at this time of great change for the local Aboriginal population. This drawing, acquired by George Kilborn, the youngest son of Roderick Kilborn – McRae’s friend and sometime patron – records an episode in traditional aboriginal life. The subject, a ceremonial war dance, is a theme McRae depicted many times and is almost certainly a recollection of an earlier pre-colonial event. Typical of McRae’s illustrations, the ceremonial dancers are drawn in a row across the page from edge to edge in a frieze-like pattern. The dancers stand, legs wide apart, bent at the knees. All wear a string apron and bear decorative body designs. Each man holds weapons, either a pair of boomerangs or a boomerang and club. The integrated forms of the figures and the movement of the weapons overhead create an effect of dancers moving in complete unison. The silhouetted images of the dancer are typical of McRae's economy with the pen yet the gesture and movement in his drawings express all that is necessary to convey the story. Tiny details such as the ringtail possum perched on a tree branch observing the events below show as Andrew Sayers observes, that McRae had a ‘keen sense of observation and a characteristic storytelling quality, often showing a wry amusement, combine in his drawings to produce an evocative art, full of vitality.’1 1. Sayers, A., Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994, p. 49 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE
Deutscher and Hackett
Aug. 16, 2023
TOMMY MCRAE, (I) CEREMONY, c.1880 (II) SPEARING FISH AND BLACK SWAN, c.1880
Est: $50,000 - $70,000
TOMMY MCRAE (c.1836 - 1901) (I) CEREMONY, c.1880 (II) SPEARING FISH AND BLACK SWAN, c.1880 pen and ink on paper 22.0 x 28.0 cm (each) ii. inscribed with title lower centre: Spearing fish and Black Swan PROVENANCE Roderick Kilborn, Wagunyah, acquired directly from the artist Thence by descent Harold Cox, Canberra Mr Justice T. C. Davis, High Commissioner for Canada, Canberra, a gift from the above in May 1946 Thence by descent Private collection, Canada Frank Hall Estate Sales, Calgary, Canada, 16 April 2023, lot 313 (as ‘Artist Unknown’) Private collection, Canada RELATED WORK (I) Ceremony, c.1891, pen and blue ink on paper, 24.5 x 31.0 cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, illus. in Ryan, J., Indigenous Australian Art in The National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2002, p. 11 (II) Spearing fish and swans from canoes, c.1895, pen and ink on paper, 24.8 x 31.5 cm, in the collection of the Latrobe Library, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, illus. in Sayers, A., Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994, p. 37, pl. M13 We are grateful to Carol Cooper Shawcross for assistance with this catalogue entry. ESSAY Offering a rare insight into the Indigenous culture of the late 1800s and before, Tommy McRae's drawings are of great consequence as they are a valuable record of a local response to an increasing change of pace. McRae was a keen observer of the conduct of new settlers who surrounded him, and a man of deep reflection on the daily life and cultural activities of his own people. As Andrew Sayers observes, McRae had a 'keen sense of observation and a characteristic storytelling quality, often showing a wry amusement, [which] combine in his drawings to produce an evocative art, full of vitality'.1 A member of the southernmost part of the Wiradjuri nation, McRae (c.1836 – 1901) has been known variously as Yakanduna, Warra-uea, Tommy Barnes, and Tommy McRae. He was born in the Albury region and lived most of his life in the Upper Murray River area at Lake Moodemere, close to Wagunyah and Corowa on what is now the Victoria – New South Wales border. McRae worked as a stockman on surrounding local pastoral properties, and in his later life, began recording the daily events in his community and the newly settled towns. His depictions of traditional scenes of hunting, fishing and ceremony together with portrayal of European, and Chinese miners and historical events were, perhaps surprisingly, widely admired and supported by the local community. McRae's visual record was a rarity at this time of great change for the local Aboriginal population, with European settlers progressively colonising the land and appropriating its resources. These two drawings were presented as a gift to Mr Justice T. C. Davis, the retiring High Commissioner for Canada at the completion of his term in May 1946, by Harold Cox, the the Melbourne Herald's Canberra Press Gallery journalist at the time who had inherited the works by descent from his grandfather, Roderick Kilborn. Both drawings record traditional aboriginal life. The subject of the first work, Ceremony, is one of McRae’s most frequent subjects and is perhaps a recollection of earlier experiences. Typical of McRae’s illustrations of these events, the ceremonial dancers are drawn in a row across the page from edge to edge in a frieze-like pattern. The dancers stand, legs wide apart, bent at the knees each interlocking with the next. All bear decorative body designs and hold a man’s hunting kit of spear, club and spearthrower. The integrated forms of the figures and the movement of the spears overhead create an effect of dancers moving in complete unison. The second drawing records another of McRae’s preferred subjects, food gathering and hunting. Spearing Fish and Black Swan shows a hunter spearfishing from a bark canoe. Fish and birds were a stable part of the diet of the Indigenous people along the Murray River, consisting not only of Murray Cod ( Maccullochella poeli) but also black swans and other waterbirds which were also hunted in this manner. These works tell a story, a pair of narratives of the hunt, one above the other, ‘his favourite motif is a scene where the prey is about to be captured – a moment pregnant with promise’2 and in both scenes, we observe the instant just before the hunter releases his spear. The drawings of Tommy McRae as noted by Andrew Sayers are ‘distinct in their delicate use of the silhouette….. It is an art of extreme economy but for all its reductiveness, is highly expressive.’3 His figures are reduced to delicate outlines in the mostly blank space of the page with little surrounding detail, but with his simple use of gesture and movement, McRae’s drawings express all that is necessary to convey the story. 1. Sayers, A., Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994, p. 49 2. ibid., p. 36 3. ibid., p. 29 CRISPIN GUTTERIDGE
Deutscher and Hackett
Feb. 04, 2021
ATTRIBUTED TO TOMMY MCRAE (1830-1901) Decorated Bellows c.1890 finely incised wood with leather and brass studded bellows, brass nozzle
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
ATTRIBUTED TO TOMMY MCRAE (1830-1901) Decorated Bellows c.1890 finely incised wood with leather and brass studded bellows, brass nozzle 71cm, LEONARD JOEL DELIVERY SIZE: MEDIUM PROVENANCE: Sotheby's, Melbourne, 24 July 2007, lot 2 Private collection, Melbourne Leski Auctions, Melbourne, 2 December 2008, lot 98 Private collection, Melbourne Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne, 24 March 2010, lot 149 Private collection, Melbourne OTHER NOTES: These bellows were acquired by a collector of Australiana from an antique shop in central Victoria. They are decorated with engraved desgins that can be attributed to Tommy McRae. The artist has engraved two ceremonial figures with body paint and carrying weapons, dancing on either side of a tree above which are three depictions of a larvae-like insect and a snake-like animal surrounded by circular and track-like motifs. It is likely that this work was created in the last decade of the 19th century.
Leonard Joel
May. 29, 2018
Untitled (fighting Figures)
Est: $40,000 - $50,000
Nineteenth century artist Tommy McRae lived and worked along Victoriaâs upper Murray River area during the period that saw the disruption and ultimate end of traditional tribal life amongst the Aboriginal people of South-Eastern Australia. He was in his fifties and towards the end of this physically demanding work life when he began to draw consistently. A steady flow of interest and paid commissions followed. McRae was able to set up an independent camp for himself and family on the shores of Lake Moodemere, a large freshwater lake of ceremonial importance to his people. Following his death, many of his drawings were collected and housed in museum archives. They were considered to be examples of âthe dawn of artâ or an historical record of nineteenth century life. Though McRaeâs images were rendered with a keen sense of observation, their true artistic merit and historical significance has only emerged relatively recently. During the 1980s and 1990s his drawings were included in major touring exhibitions and McRae is now acknowledged as a significant figure in the history of Australian visual culture whose art practice was âa creative choice within a culture of extraordinary complexityâ*.Â It is now well over a century since McRae created these captivating, lively and compelling works. Their rarity and fragility enhances their ingenious beauty. Ref. Onus, Lin, Southwest, Southeast Australia and Tasmania, in Aratjara; Art of the first Australians. 1993, Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. Sayers, Andrew, Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century. 1994, Australia. Oxford University Press.Â
Cooee Art
Oct. 15, 2015
Tommy McRae (c.1835 - 1901) After. - Spearing Emu 25.5 x 62cm
Est: $150 - $250
Tommy McRae (c.1835 - 1901) After. Spearing Emu early woven tapestry 25.5 x 62cm Gowrie Galleries label on verso
Lawsons
Aug. 26, 2014
YACKADUNA (TOMMY MCRAE) circa 1835-1901 (Spearing Fish and Black Swans) (circa 1890) ink on paper
Est: $28,000 - $35,000
YACKADUNA (TOMMY MCRAE) circa 1835-1901 (Spearing Fish and Black Swans) (circa 1890) ink on paper 21.5 x 35.4 cm PROVENANCE George McMahon, Corowa, New South Wales By descent Private Collection, Queensland Aboriginal Art, Sotheby's Australia, Melbourne, 25 July 2005, lot 7, illustrated Private Collection, Victoria, acquired from the above
Smith & Singer
Jul. 31, 2006
TOMMY MCRAE CIRCA 1830-1901
Est: $15,000 - $20,000
UNTITLED (FIGHTING FIGURES) C.1890 MEASUREMENTS 17 by 29.5 cm Pen and ink on paper laid down on card PROVENANCE Acquired by Alan Knox Buckley, Headmaster of Rutherglen School in the last quarter of the 19th century, thence by descent Private collection, Perth Cf. 'Fight Between Two Tribes', in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, Canberra, illustrated in Sayers, A., Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994, p.34, plate M4; and 'Lachlan War Dance', in the collection of the La Trobe Library, State Library of Victoria, (ibid.) p.32, plate M14 An animated drawing of pairs of men in hand-to-hand combat. McRae has depicted the detail of the body painting worn by the men on their torsos, legs and arms, and even hinted at the decoration engraved onto some of the parrying shields
Sotheby's
Jul. 31, 2006
TOMMY MCRAE CIRCA 1830-1901
Est: $18,000 - $25,000
ANOTHER FIGHT C.1890 MEASUREMENTS 24 by 35 cm Bears title lower left Pen and ink on paper PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist by George McMahon, a customs officer at Albury on the New South Wales/Victoria border, thence by descent Private collection, South Australia Cf. See Sayers, A., Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century , Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994, p.34, plate M4, for a related example in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, Canberra McRae and his family lived on the Aboriginal reserve at Lake Moodemere south of the town of Wahgunyah on the Murray River, in northern Victoria. He had been born at the time the area was being settled by squatters and later by gold-diggers. McRae's drawings, made in the latter part of his life, helped supplement his family's income. His unique drawings, featuring silhouetted figures in pen and ink, reveal a contemporary commentary on a changing social environment: among his subjects were the squatters themselves, the Chinese who came with the gold rush and other aspects of interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people McRae was commissioned by the settlers to produce sketches of traditional life, mainly of hunting and ceremony. However his drawings of fights are, according to Sayers (1994:34), McRae's 'most spirited' compositions. Fights between Aboriginal groups were highly ritualised affairs where two groups would stand in line opposite eachother and throw spears and boomerangs at the opposing group. After a while, the warring parties would rush at each other and commence hand-to-hand combat with their clubs and shields. McRae continued the theme of fighting to depict clashes between Aboriginal people, Chinese and others McRae made drawings on individual sheets of paper and in sketchbooks This drawing comes from one of the sketchbooks
Sotheby's
Jul. 25, 2005
TOMMY MCRAE CIRCA1830-1901 SPEARING FISH AND BLACK SWANS C.1890
Est: $16,000 - $20,000
Pen and ink on paper Provenance
Sotheby's
Jul. 25, 2005
TOMMY MCRAE CIRCA 1830-1901 ONE OF THE MURRAY RIVER TRIBE'S WAR DANCE (BEFORE THE FIGHT) C.1890
Est: $14,000 - $18,000
Ink on paper Provenance
Sotheby's
Jul. 26, 2004
TOMMY MCRAE CIRCA 1830-1901 SPEARING THE KANGAROO C.1890 23 by 33.5 cm Ink on paper Bears title in lower margin Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by George McMahon, a customs officer at Albury on the New South Wales/Victoria border, and
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
TOMMY MCRAE CIRCA 1830-1901 SPEARING THE KANGAROO C.1890 23 by 33.5 cm Ink on paper Bears title in lower margin Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by George McMahon, a customs officer at Albury on the New South Wales/Victoria border, and then by descent to the vendor Private collection, New South Wales Cf. Similar hunting scenes by the artist are illustrated in Sayers, A., Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, Melbourne 1994, p.30 plate M4; p.31, plate M13; p.35 plates M3 and M29; p.36 plate M36. An exceptionally fine drawing of a traditional hunting scene that had been commissioned of the artist by European settlers towards the end of the 19th century. McRae was masterful in conveying the character of his subjects by the deceptively simple means of drawing silhouettes.
Sotheby's