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Object Type
Museum number: Oc1913,-.145
Description: Basket (tunga) made of folded eucalyptus bark, vegetable cane fibre, abrus seeds, resin and decorated with natural red, white and yellow pigments.
Production ethnic group
Production date: 1913 (before)
Findspot: Found/Acquired: Tiwi Islands
Materials: eucalyptus bark (Darwin stringybark [Eucalyptus tetrodonta]?); ochre; cane; abrus seed (Abrus precatorius); resin
Technique: pigmented; folded
Dimensions: Height: 43 centimetres; Width: 51 centimetres; Depth: 67 centimetres
Curator's comments: Tiwi Islanders carry out elaborate Pukumani ceremonies after a person’s death. These funerary ceremonies include elaborate body decoration, complex burial rites and numerous performances. They can take place over a lengthy period of time in order to fully mark the passing of that relative as well as express grief. Burial poles or tutini are painted with natural earth pigmentsand erected at specific grave sites: they represent the body of the deceased relative or possibly ancestors. Large bark baskets or tunga are also made specifically for these ceremonies. Various designs or jilmara, are painted on the body as well as on the baskets and burial poles. These designs can relate to a person’s identity, clan, country or dreaming. Gifts of food are brought to the funeral in tunga, and at the conclusion of the ceremony, they are upended on top of painted tutini. The painted tunga and tutini stand as a memorial to the deceased and their relatives and are left to be worn away by the elements. Artists continue to make tunga, often for commercial sale and use innovative interpretations of traditional beliefs. For contemporary versions see 2012,2032.1 & 2011,2014.1; The bark is likely Darwin stringybark [Eucalyptus tetrodonta]
Bibliographic references: Bolton 2011 / Baskets and Belonging; Indigenous Australian Histories (p.24 and 25); Sculthorpe et al. 2015 / Indigenous Australia: Enduring Civilisation (p.100, fig.89); National Museum of Australia 2015 / Encounters. Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum (p.209)
Location: On display (G24/dc2)
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 1972-1982 23 Jun-28 Feb, London, BM, Museum of Mankind, The Aborigines of Australia 2011 26 May-11 Sep, London, BM, G91, Baskets and Belonging: Indigenous Australian Histories 2015 23 Apr-2 Aug, London, BM, G35, Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation 2015-2016 27 Nov-28 Mar, Canberra, National Museum of Australia, Encounters
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1913
Department: Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Registration number: Oc1913,-.145
Additional IDs: CDMS number: Oc1913C3.145 (old CDMS no.)
Conservation: Treatment: 09 Feb 2011; Treatment: 26 Jan 2015

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