Paddy (Jampin) Tjamatji Sold at Auction Prices

Paddy Jampin Jaminji - Mount House Station, c.1984

Cooee Art Indigenous Fine Art Auction "Paddy Jaminji was born on Bedford Downs station in the North East Kimberley. He spent most of his working life as a stockman on both Bedford Downs and Old Lissadell Stations. He was the first painter in Turkey Creek after a strike by Kimberley station workers in the mid 1970s signalled a mass exodus from cattle properties. Uncle to Rover Thomas, he was the inspiration behind Rover's decision to paint, and went on to inspire many others including Lena Nyadbi. In this early painting, Paddy Jaminji, has depicted the big swamp (marshlands) near Mount House. The swamp is called Jilili and is one of the sites that is visited by the spirit of the old woman during the ceremony (Gurrir Gurrir) devised by Paddy and Rover Thomas during the late 1970s and the subject of a number of verses in the song cycle. Mount House is located west of the tablelands in the western Kimberley region." Contact Cooee Art for more information on this Aboriginal artwork.

PADDY JAMINJI JAMPIN, (c1912 - 1996), ELGEE CLIFF, HALF KANGAROO - KRILKRIL COUNTRY, 1985, natural earth pigments with bush gum on plywood

PADDY JAMINJI JAMPIN, (c1912 - 1996), ELGEE CLIFF, HALF KANGAROO - KRILKRIL COUNTRY, 1985, natural earth pigments with bush gum on plywood DIMENSIONS: 66.0 x 94.0 cm (irregular) PROVENANCE: Mary Macha, Subiaco, Perth The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney, purchased in July 1987

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin), 1912-1996, UNTITLED,

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin), 1912-1996, UNTITLED, natural earth pigments and natural binder (bush gum) on board  60 BY 90CM  Provenance:  Painted at Warmun (Turkey Creek) in 1987  Mary Macha, Perth  Private collection  Sotheby's, Aboriginal Art, Melbourne, 26-27 June 2000, lot 79  Private collectionThi

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin), 1912-1996, UNTITLED

Paddy Jaminji (Jampin), 1912-1996, UNTITLED natural earth pigments and bush gum on canvas  signed 'Paddy' on the reverse  89 BY 127CM  Provenance:  Painted at Warmun (Turkey Creek) 1986  Sotheby's, Aboriginal, African and Oceanic Art, 9 November 1998, lot 149  Niagara Galleries, Melbourne  Privat

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996 TAWURR THE KANGAROO AT KANMANTURR

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , CIRCA 1912-1996 UNTITLED Natural earth pigments and natural binders on plywood

Bears artist's name 'Paddy Chumpingee' (sic) on the reverse (now obscured by backing board) Natural earth pigments and natural binders on plywood

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , CIRCA 1912-1996 UNTITLED Natural earth pigments and natural binders on canvas board

Natural earth pigments and natural binders on canvas board

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , CIRCA 1912-1996 UNTITLED Natural earth pigments and natural binders on canvas board

Natural earth pigments and natural binders on canvas board

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , CIRCA 1912-1996 TAWURR THE KANGAROO AT KANMANTURR Natural earth pigments on canvas board

Natural earth pigments on canvas board

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , CIRCA 1912-1996 KANANGANJA - MT KING, BEDFORD DOWNS Natural earth pigments and natural binders on plywood

Bears title (some obscured) on the reverse Natural earth pigments and natural binders on plywood

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , CIRCA 1912-1996 UNTITLED - DREAMINGS ON BEDFORD DOWNS Natural earth pigments and natural binder on canvas

Natural earth pigments and natural binder on canvas

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , CIRCA 1912-1996 KIMBERLEY RANGES WITH WHITE FELLA'S ROAD Natural earth pigments on composition board

Natural earth pigments on composition board

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) , THE SPIRITS, JIMBI AND MANGINTA pre.1983

Natural earth pigments and natural binders on plywood

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996

UNTITLED C.1986 MEASUREMENTS 64 by 120 cm (irregular) Bears artist's name in charcoal on the reverse Natural earth pigments and natural binders on plywood PROVENANCE This painting was purchased from Paddy Tjamatji around 1986 by the vendor's brother, an anthropologist working in the Kimberley Private collection, South Australia Cf. For a painting with similar compositional elements see 'Jilili, big swamp near Mount House', 1983, in Thomas, R. with K. Akerman, M. Macha, W. Christensen and W. Caruana, Roads Cross: The paintings of Rover Thomas, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1994, p. 30, illus. Tjamatji was the first to paint the boards used in the Kurirr Kurirr ceremony belonging to Rover Thomas in the late 1970s (see entries for lots 94 and 95). Although the Kurirr Kurirr had been revealed to Rover Thomas and he was the owner of the associated narrative, choreography, songs and imagery, his classificatory uncle, Paddy Tjamatji had the traditional responsibility of painting the designs onto the boards that were carried by the ritual participants across their shoulders. The series of nine Kurirr Kurirr paintings dating from 1983 in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia were painted by Rover Thomas and Paddy Tjamatji (see Thomas et al, 1994, pp.28-35, pp.59-60 and the back cover). One of the paintings by Tjamatji, 'Jilili, big swamp near Mount House', bears a striking resemblance to this work in terms of composition and the treatment of the major pictorial elements. It is likely the image is of three major waterholes or swampy areas, although their location cannot be specified For an extensive analysis of Tjamatji's early work, in particular related to the Kurirr Kurirr ceremony, see Akerman, K. 'The art of the Kurirr-Kurirr ceremony' in Taylor, L. (ed.), Painting the Land Story, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 1999, pp.15-32; and Christensen, W., 'Paddy Jaminji and the Gurirr Gurirr' in Ryan, J. and K. Akerman (eds.), Images of Power: Aboriginal art of the Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1993, pp.32-39. The exhibition Paddy Jaminji: I bin paint'im first at the Holmes à Court Gallery, in Perth in 2004, featured paintings on board and canvas between 1985 and 1987. The text in the accompanying brochure by Kim Akerman, 'Paddy Jaminji - Trail-blazing artist of the Warmun school of Aboriginal art' is a personal appreciation of the Tjamatji's early years as a painter. See also Akerman, K., 'Recent developments in the East Kimberley' in Caruana, W. (ed), Windows on the Dreaming: Aboriginal Paintings in the Australian National Gallery, Australian National Gallery and Ellsyd Press, Canberra and Sydney, 1989, pp.164-75

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996 ILLAMBUL COUNTRY 1987

Natural earth pigments and natural earth binder (bush gum) on composition board Provenance

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996 A BIG HILL GUMERI ON BEDFORD DOWNS STATION 1984

Natural earth pigments and bush gum on canvas Provenance

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996 LISSADELL DOWNS 1986

Natural earth pigments and natural binder (bush gum) on plywood Provenance

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996 TAWURR THE KANGAROO AT KANMANTURR 1987 60 by 59.5 cm Natural earth pigments and natural binder (bush gum) on plywood Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist at Warmun (Turkey Creek), Western Australia

PADDY TJAMATJI (JAMPIN) CIRCA 1912-1996 TAWURR THE KANGAROO AT KANMANTURR 1987 60 by 59.5 cm Natural earth pigments and natural binder (bush gum) on plywood Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist at Warmun (Turkey Creek), Western Australia Private collection Adelaide Cf. Akerman K., 'The Art of the Kurirr-Kurirr Ceremony', in Taylor L.(ed) Painting the Land Story, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 1999, pp.14-32 pl.9 Another version of this painting is in the collection of the National Museum of Australia, Canberra. Kim Akerman writes with regard to this work: 'This is the image of Tawurr the kangaroo ancestor as it appears on the cave wall at Kanmanturr ( Elgee Cliffs), on Bedford Downs station. The kangaroo is described as "half-one" because the bottom part of the rock painting has eroded away. The power of the kangaroo is still in this place. Nearby are the spirits of Aboriginal people killed long ago by white people. In Kurirr-Kurirr the two travelling spirits see where the bodies where burned, and they compose a song about the people who where massacred, ' (ibid, p.30). This painting is sold with a colour photocopy of an original photograph of the artist and Rover Thomas standing alongside this painting.

[ Aboriginal Art ] Paddy Tjamatji (Jampin) Circa 1921-1996 Turkey Creek Junction-Warmun Hole 1983 Natural earth pigments and natural binder on composition board Bears artist's name 'P Tjamatji' and title on the reverse 71.5 by 111.5cm Provenance

[ Aboriginal Art ] Paddy Tjamatji (Jampin) Circa 1921-1996 Turkey Creek Junction-Warmun Hole 1983 Natural earth pigments and natural binder on composition board Bears artist's name 'P Tjamatji' and title on the reverse 71.5 by 111.5cm Provenance Acquired directly from the artist at Warmun (Turkey Creek), Western Australia in 1983 Private collection, Western Australia