Lot 187: MATHAMAN MARIKA , 1920-1970 DJAMBAWAL, THE THUNDERMAN Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark

Bears artist's name, date, title and catalogue number 238 on the reverse Natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark

110.5 by 61.2 cm

Painted at Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land in the mid 1960s
Private collection

Cf. For paintings of the same subject see, Gunguyuma, Djambawal, the Thunderman, 1961, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, in Ryan, J., Spirit in Land: Bark paintings from Arnhem Land in the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1990, p.40, pl.13; Mawlan Marika, Untitled, 1967, and Mau Mununggurr, Untitled, 1967, in Groger-Wurm, H.M., Australian Aboriginal Bark Paintings and their Mythological Interpretation: Vol.1, Eastern Arnhem Land, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, 1973, pp. 61-2, pl.87, 88

Djambuwal is the creator of storms and is related to the Djang'kawu ancestral beings who created the Dhuwa moiety clans in eastern Arnhem Land. The conventional image of Djambuwal is depicted in the top left, holding a fishing spear over his head (an analogue for a rainbow or a shooting star), from which hang the clubs with which he makes thunderbolts, and he is shown urinating to create rain, a metaphor for infusing the land with his ancestral powers. Djambuwal is regarded as a great fisherman, hence the depiction of schools of rock cod. The central figure is painted in yellow ochre, rather than black, suggesting this is an image of another ancestor or it could represent the Thunderman standing on a sacred rock in the sea