Lot 61: CHARLIE NUMBULMOORE 1907-1971

WANJINA C.1970

MEASUREMENTS

44 by 18.5 cm

Bears inscription 'Charlie's Sacred Stone, Gibb River, Kalumuburroo (sic.) WA' on the reverse
Natural earth pigments on slate

PROVENANCE
Probably executed at Gibb River Station, Western Australia Private collection, Victoria Cf. For related paintings and a discussion on the artist see Crawford, I. M., The Art of the Wanjina, Aboriginal Cave Paintings in the Kimberley Western Australia, Oxford University Press, London, 1968; McCourt, T., Aboriginal Artefacts, Rigby Press, Australia, 1975; Ryan, J. and Kim Akerman (eds.), Images of Power, Aboriginal Art from the Kimberley, National Gallery of Victoria, 1993 Charlie's Wanjina figures are generally readily identifiable. Those that are shown head and shoulders only are usually solid white (invariably derived from the mineral huntite) figures with details added in red, black and yellow. In the centre of the chest a solid, usually black but occasionally red, oval form said to depict the sternum/heart or a pearl shell pendant The almost circular heads are surrounded by a very regular, tripartite halo that represents headdress (and hair/clouds/lightning). The large round, black eyes fringed with short, delicate lashes usually occupy a greater proportion of the head in Numblemoore's Wanjinas than in those painted by other artists. Similarly Charlie's Wanjinas have well defined, long narrow parallel-sided noses, flared at the very tip and with the nostrils invariably depicted In 1971, South Australian grazier and collector the late Tom McCourt visited the central Kimberley (McCourt 1975, pp. 48, 52-53) and purchased a number of paintings, on slate, plywood and cardboard, depicting Wanjina and other beings that Charlie had painted. McCourt also commissioned Charlie to paint a Wanjina figure on an archaeological millstone found on an adjacent station. Traditionally paintings of Wanjina on small stones and slate were not common in the Kimberley, but they did occur and one found in 1977 is now in the collections of the Western Australian Museum. Commissioned painted stones, such as McCourt's example or others done by Karruwara in 1975 are a more common and recent phenomena Sotheby's wish to thank Kim Akerman for this catalogue entry